Freedom's Prodigal Son
by Trombe
Summary: What is the measure of a man? Is it judged by his physical prowess or by unmatched charisma? Is it measured by the amount of struggles in his life? Or is it through the legacy that he leaves behind? This is the story of the rebel rogue, known only as Jet.
1. Prologue

Author's note:

My second avatar fic! woot-woot! And here I thought I'd be writing a zutara one to please the masses. Not that I'm against the ship or anything, I like it. But with so many here in it can be a little bit overwhelming. Poor Zuzu and Katara. The world loves to see their anguished love. Anyway I've decided to delve into Jet's story. Jet was an interesting character who I felt was not represented enough in the canon story. There has to be so much more to the rogue freedom fighter then meets the eye.

So heres my take on it.

Sorry if it seems short to you all but its only the prologue. Its suppose to be short.

Once again read, review, and enjoy. I'll be happy to answer any concern you might have.

* * *

**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**Freedom's Prodigal Son**

**Prologue: Breaking the news**

* * *

_Has it always been this small?_ Smellerbee looked around nostalgically. The familiar furniture and small trinkets that lay around the huge tree house all triggered various emotions and memories within her. She didn't know where to begin.

_Its been this long... _She bent over to pick up one wooden toy sword, now covered in cobwebs and dust. She remembered this sword had been fondly played with back then. She remembered the laughter and the smiling faces that held the tiny hilt she now had in her hand.

"..." A silent lean young man walked up from behind her and placed a strong hand on her shoulder; under his protection she always felt delicate.

"Yeah I know Longshot... Its still home..." Placing a hand over his she felt comforted.

"Hey you guys made it!" A small boy who wore a helmet bigger then he could support jumped in from one of the various windows and startled Smellerbee, who was quick to break away from Longshot's hand.

"The Duke! Don't surprise us like that!" she sneered.

The silent archer adjusted his straw hat as he hid a small smile. Smellerbee could be so awkward sometimes. Yet if she wanted to keep the nature of their relationship secret it was fine by him.

The small young warrior ran up to his friends and gave Longshot a big hug, then turned his attention to Smellerbee, who winced in the embarrassment when the kid hugged her.

"Yeah, yeah... I miss ya too. Now let go before I start to lose it," Smellerbee growled, reluctantly hugging the little guy back.

The Duke grinned before finally obliging to Smellerbee's request. "C'mon... The rest of the gang are back there," he urged on his former comrades as he led the way.

Smellerbee was anxious to see all her old friends, but upon arriving at their destination they only spotted the colossal form of a smiling Pipsqueek, who seemed even larger as he stood up from one of the chair stumps. The gigantic fellow quickly scooped up the two in his thick strong arms as he gave them a hug that could only be matched by a bear.

"Haha! Good to see both of you! Smellerbee! Longshot!"

"Uh... good... to... see... you... too... Pipsqueek." Smellerbee had forgotten how strong their friend was as she struggled to get the words out.

"..." Longshot couldn't have agreed more.

"You're... hurting us... big guy..." She grunted out.

"Oh! Sorry."

Pipsqueek gently let the two go from his vice-like grip and gave them a pat on the back instead. The former freedom fighters couldn't stop from grinning as they barely contained their nostalgia. The four of them were together again. It was a feeling that they all sorely missed. No words were needed to be said as they enjoyed the moment together.

"Is it just the two of you?" Smellerbee asked. "Where are the rest of the Freedom Fighters?" She had thought long and hard about their unspoken promise. It had already been a year since Jet left and disbanded the Freedom Fighters. Being orphans of war, they really had no where else to go. So they made a pact. Whatever happens with the war, they would all meet back here in year's time. "No one else came?" She tried to keep her voice from breaking.

She had hoped to find more then just the Duke and Pipsqueek.

To answer her question the Duke and Pipsqueek grinned. "Man you've been away for awhile now Smellerbee," The Duke pointed out.

"This is our home. Who knows it better then the Freedom fighters themselves?" Pipsqueek smiled, as he placed two fingers inside his mouth and gave a long loud whistle that would have woken up the entire forest.

In fact, the entire forest did seem to wake around them. At the sound of his signal, figures from all around leapt and gave a joyous cry. A whirl storm of bodies and leaves flew around. Some swung in by the tree fort's extensive pulleys,some through the hidden trap doors. Soon the tree house Smellerbee had felt was so empty was brimming, full to the bursting with young, familiar faces, most covered in dirt, but all grinning brightly. These were the Freedom Fighters she'd returned to meet.

Like a million spider-ants that moved as one, it was quite a sight to see.

"Longshot and Smellerbee's back!!"

"Woo-hoo! The Freedom fighters are back together again!"

Countless voices began to greet the two of them and Smellerbee had never felt so overwhelmed in her life. She almost forgotten how huge their rag tag rebel army was.

Pipsqueek whistled out loud once more, and surprisingly silenced followed.

"That got their attention," the big fellow smirked.

All eyes were on them now. Longshot gave Smellerbee a gentle nudge on the side, urging her to go on.

The blade wielding freedom fighter grudgingly looked at his direction. She knew what she had to do, but public speaking was never one of her strong points. A sad thought briefly went by in her mind.

Thats where Jet always came in.

She coughed a bit, as if to throw the nervousness out of her system. "I... uh..."

"The war's finally over!" The Duke was the first to speak up giving her a look that said, _Hey you're not alone. Lets do this together_.

A loud chorus of cheers followed after his announcement.

"All our hardships... all our sacrifices... all of them were for this day alone!" Pipsqueek added in his booming voice; again the cheers came.

"But where's Jet?"

That single question from the crowd brought them all to a halt. They had barely just begun their speech and already they faced the heart of the matter. Or rather the loss of heart.

"Yeah. I thought for sure Jet would be here!" another voiced joined the first.

Smellerbee did not have the courage nor the heart to look her fellow orphans of war in the eyes. What was there to say? How does one accept death so commonly? She lowered her head. "Jet's... Jet's..."

A hand shot out in front of her, indicating her to stop. Longshot briefly looked at her before glancing back at everyone else. "Jet is gone," he said solemnly, causing immediate silence from the Fighters - most had never heard him speak before. "He died. Fighting in Ba Sing Se. Fighting for what he believed in."

Their faces fell. Smellerbee could almost smell their confusion. It had to be a joke. Some kind of sick twisted joke that came from a mute young man. Only somebody like Jet could appreciate the humor in that! Everyone expected the charismatic rogue to come tumbling in with that trademark grin of his as he chewed on a leaf stem, laughing at them loudly before saying _"Gotcha."_

But there was no Jet, and there never would be again.

Seeing that his words weren't sinking in, Longshot reached for a piece of cloth wrapped around his back, near his quiver, and he began to unfold its contents. Slowly, he gently took out what the cloth had hidden. A gleaming pair of twin Tiger Hook swords. Yet without their wielder they seemed lifeless and dull. That was all that was needed to be seen.

It was true then, horrible as it was. Jet had left this world.

Smellerbee noticed The Duke didn't seemed as surprised as the rest. She had no way of knowing The Duke and Pipsqueek had learned of Jet's grim fate ahead of time, as they had fought alongside the Avatar in the day of black sun, and the final battle. That did not mean it hurt any less, as the two could barely suppress their sorrow. Pipsqueek's expression was as grim as any she had ever seen.

Then the band of orphans were all seized in an uproar and wailing cries. Partly cause of the fact that their silent archer spoke, partly due to the grim message he had given them, but mostly from the sight of the lonely weapons they knew their beloved leader would never abandon while he still had breath within him.

"J-J-Jet's gone? Why?! How?!"

"Well what do we do now?! How are we going to survive?!"

"It was stupid to disband in the first place! We never should have left the forest!"

"I shouldn't have joined. I knew this was going to happen! I-"

"You knew this was going to happen?! You were the one so eager to leave Chan!!"

"Oh yeah well-"

Orphan bickered with fellow orphan. Brother fought against brother. Comrade turned on comrade. It was a diplomatic nightmare.

The four senior members could only look with surprising awe and guilt as the warriors words battled to top each other, meshing together into a cacophony of chaos. _See how lost your boys are without you Jet?_ Smellerbee's eyes were filled with both sorrow and rage. "How could he leave us like that?" she whispered.

"He hasn't." Apparently she didn't whisper quietly enough, as Longshot replied with a determined face.

Her normally quiet companion gave Pipsqueek a solemn nod. The giant man seemed to understand Longshot's wordless request, and he breathed in deeply before shouting out a thunderous cry. **"QUIET!!"**

All at once the fighting had stopped. No one dared to oppose Pipsqueek whenever he used that commanding voice. All eyes were upon them again. Somewhere in the distance, Smellerbee heard a cricketfrog croak.

"Freedom Fighters... why are you here?" Longshot raised his voice; for one who did not speak at all he possessed a commanding presence, though his voice was course and quiet from lack of use.

The question hung in the air. No one replied.

"That was not a rhetorical question," he glared.

"Cause... we have no where else to go?" one answered back timidly.

"Because we all though Jet would come back," another joined.

More and more of the crowd of orphans gave them their answer, all of which seemed to connect to one brown-haired, care**-**free fighter.

"We came back... because of Jet..."

"Jet always had the answers..."

Longshot seized the opportunity there and then. "Maybe he still does."

At his puzzling statement everyone was caught off-guard.

"Jet is our leader... but more then that. He was... _is_ my friend. My _best_ friend," the archer continued. Smellerbee silently slipped her hand into his, and felt his close around hers, but not seeking support, as she had thought he would. Longshot seemed focused and determined, like he did when his bow was taught. "No one in here believed more in him and his ideals then me. He would not have wanted us to be like this. Far from it. Jet believed in one thing the most in this entire world." The former mute archer paused, his eyes steeling as he remembered his friend's words.

"Life is full of struggles. But it is because of these struggles that we earn our freedom. This was his life**...**

_...this is his story..._"


	2. Chapter 1: Home

Author's note:

This story is actually a collaborative effort between me and and a friend. Its the first time I've actually worked together with someone but she and I share the same wavelength about where this story is going.

Again read, review and enjoy.

* * *

**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**Freedom's Prodigal Son**

_**Home**_

* * *

"_I doubt most of you knew this, but Jet and I were born in the same village, before the fire nation troops had arrived here." Longshot's raspy voice seemed to have mesmerized the boys, and his words seemed to carry the entire room back to a time and place they'd never been._

"_Back then, there was peace – an odd concept for those of us who have grown up with spears in our hands and learned to run and hide before walking. But it was true. Not so very long ago, there was peace…"_

* * *

"Liu!" Jet shouted at the small boy crouched behind a huge, out of place boulder. "Mommy said no earthbending! Liu!" But the six-year-old boy was in no mood to listen, and teetered away from his older brother as fast as he could, screaming joyfully at the top of his lungs.

"Liu, that is not how you play hide-and-seek!" Growling under his breath, Jet ran off after the wobbling boy.

But the minute he left the base, another boy streaked out from behind a tree, straight towards the safety ground like an arrow from a bow. "Home Free! Home Free!" the boy shouted, jumping up and down behind Jet.

"Get over it, Chizen!" Jet shouted. "You little kids are so annoying!"

"I'm seven!" Chizen protested, with a slight lisp, holding up seven chubby fingers. "Seven!" he repeated seriously.

"And I'm eight," Jet concluded logically, "So do what I say and help me catch Liu!"

"Boys!" Liu stopped squealing when his mother's voice reached his ears. "Time to come home."

"Ah mom!" Jet huffed.

She smiled knowingly. "Dinner's ready," she informed the sulking boy, watching her son perk up predictably. "And your father's home earlier!" she added, merriment dancing in her tone.

Jet loved the way her eyes lit up, and the knowing, though often incriminating, way she looked at him. _A mother's glow,_ she had told him once. _You make me look that way, darling. You and Liu. You two are my world._

"Chinzen," she asked, turning her smile on the gangly boy, "do you want to come have dinner too, or is you mother expecting you?"

"I go home now too," Chizen declared, with all the authority his seven years could muster.

"Run along then. Liu! Come here, baby!"

"I told him to come," Jet said seriously, "but he wouldn't listen to me."

Their mother laughed as she scooped Liu up into her arms. "You should listen to your brother, Liu," she said, blowing kisses on his chin. She looked at the dirt on his hands. "Were you earthbending again, Liu?"

"No!" Liu huffed immediately.

"Yes, he was," Jet tattled.

"Liu, what did I tell you about earthbending?"

"Only do it… with Daddy!" She looked at the boy suspiciously. He quirked his head, realizing she was waiting for something else. Suddenly pleased to know what it was, he hugged her neck. "I'm sorry for being bad," he said, smiling.

"No he's not!" Jet protested angrily.

But their mother smiled and grabbed Jet's hand in hers. "Hurry, or dinner will get cold," she laughed, pulling Jet behind her as he rushed his short legs to keep up with her stride.

* * *

Their village was nestled in a grassy clearing surrounded by trees. Many trees that were so tall Jet wasn't allowed to climb them. His father said the trees had been alive longer than the oldest villager, maybe even since the beginning of time. Jet didn't know if he believed that – his father was always a kidder. But he did believe the trees were old, and beautiful, even if he couldn't climb them.

The golden grass that surrounded the village to either side shifted in the breeze like an ocean. During the winter there was no grass, just icy hills covered in snow, for bark sledding and snowball fights, and during the spring and into summer it was green and fresh, with little gophermoles popping out. But it was mid-fall now, and the grass was golden and as shiny as the sun. Jet loved the way some of it grew tall enough to hide in, and some was short enough to brush his ankles.

Grasshaven, as their village had been nicknamed, had no wall, but it did have two big pillars at the entrance where a road spread far into the distance. Jet knew the road split a few miles out of town, and the left fork lead to a nearby village they often traded with, called Riverford. Jet had never been that far, so to him the road stretched forever. But he had met people from Riverford, and some from even father away. Chizen said his dad took him to Riverford once, but Jet didn't know if he believed the lanky seven-year-old. He also claimed there was a lake there with so much water he couldn't swim to the other side, and that the people there made the lake bigger with a dam. Jet couldn't swim himself, so he preferred not to believe in Chizen's inflated stories, even if Liu loved them.

Jet's father went to Riverford all the time. Everybody loved and respected Tenyu, so he was often asked to travel with the villagers when they took long trips. He helped keep peace between the people of Riverford and Grasshaven, but the real reason they asked Tenyu to come along was because of his martial arts skills. He was a great warrior, and always protected his friends when they went on trips to sell their wares, though he claimed the best way to stop a fight was with friendly words and weapons sheathed. He had been gone on his last trip for almost a month now, helping the old carpenter sell his wears and buy new tools. Jet was determined to ask him when he got back this time if Chizen was telling the truth about the dam and the giant lake.

Tenyu traded with all the local villages, spreading merchandise, and gossip, so he always came home full of stories about people the boys had never met and far off places they could dream of seeing. Chisui would always laugh merrily at her husband's stories, and after the boys went to bed, speak more seriously with him about his trips. Lately, news had been getting worse and worse, and the fire nation was a constant threat that seemed much farther away to Jet and Liu then Tenyu and Chisui.

That was why they could be found in comfortable corner of their thick, square house, relaxing on deep green cushions, but talking about things far more serious than trade, or housing or troublesome boys.

"The fire nation has been moving closer every year," Tenyu insisted. "It goes against reason to assume they would have stopped for no reason."

"But even so," Chisui pointed out hopefully, "Omashu is a long way from hear. News travels slowly, dear."

"I know," Tenyu replied. "There haven't been reports of it, but… I worry for our family. This village is between the last sighting of the fire nation troops and Riverford. I don't know why we haven't seen troops passing through here yet. They can't just have disappeared."

"Tenyu, we are a small town. There would be nothing to gain from occupying Grasshaven. Why would they go out of their way or waist the men here?"

"You're right dear," Tenyu sighed, realizing that projecting his unfounded fears on his wife would do little good. "You always are," he added, pressing her fingers to his lips. Suddenly his eyes turned up. "Jet! What are you doing there?"

Jet flushed when his father saw him. He hadn't understood much of the discussion, but his father's voice when he mention the fire nation held an undercurrent the frightened the eight-year-old. But Jet was Tenyu's son, and not commonly given over to fear. So he swallowed hard and presented himself respectfully to his father, who grinned and mussed his hair. "I was wondering," Jet started awkwardly, "is there really a lake so big you can't swim across it?"

Tenyu laughed, with that big booming voice that immediately dispelled all Jet's fears. "My boy, you cannot swim across the lake because it's not allowed! People there drink that water, and ship it all across the earth kingdom! But the lake is humongous, and you can splash in the water below the dam to your heart's content. It's thanks to that pure water that Riverford is such a big and prosperous village, with so much trade, and it's thanks to their trade that Grasshaven can exist."

"Is trade so important?" Jet asked.

"Indeed it is. Through trade we see that everyone and everything is related. Earth kingdom, fire nation, even the water benders from the distant water tribes trade in Riverford. Everybody has a price, and everybody has needs. That's why I protect the people there, and here in Grasshaven. I can fight, so I protect those who can't. That's trade too. And trade brings the world together, Jet. The entire world." His dad quirked his eyebrow at the boy's serious expression. "Now, didn't your mother already put you to bed once?" he asked, his tone falsely harsh. "You better scamper off before she gets really angry!"

Chisui twisted her lips up in irritation at her husband, but Jet always took his father's words to heart, and fled quickly back to bed before the big green eyes could turn to him.

* * *

Jet felt sleep still groggy in his mind as he tried to stir awake. He could hear voices far away, muted, but talking loudly and very quickly. But it was the incessant gong that drew him out of warm slumber.

Liu was still asleep, so he shook his little brother gently until the boy stirred. "Make it stop," Liu pouted. "Make the bell stop."

"Don't be a baby," Jet replied.

"What it is?" Liu asked backwards, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with tiny fists.

"I don't know."

Suddenly their bedroom door burst open. "Jet, Liu, get up," their father barked in a deep, commanding tone.

"What's happening?" Chisui asked, appearing at the door.

Tenyu turned to meet his wife's big eyes, and Jet saw the tightness in his father's face.

"The fire nation is coming."


	3. Chapter 2: Fight

Author's Note: We're coming out with chapters so fast! I guess that's the power of co-writing! now go write the battle Trombe!! muwahaha! --artsyelric

**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**Freedom's Prodigal Son**

_**Fight**_

_"Wait!" Pipsqueek protested. "Why would the fire nation attack such a small village? Don't they normally go after large, prosperous towns first? I mean, we've seen it hundreds of times."_

_"You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little sketchy on the schematics," Longshot replied. "Jet was only eight, and I'm a year younger than him. We didn't understand much back then. But my best guess - they wanted to attack us as an example to the other villages. They wouldn't loose any trade destroying us, and it was all too easy for them." _

_Longshot's eyes began to simmer beneath his straw hat, and he felt his throat catch. Smellerbee gave him a reassuring smile, and he nodded back at her. Telling it wasn't reliving it. He should be at a point at his life where he could speak about things like this. He needed to stop hiding behind silence now, for Jet, and for himself._

_He took a deep breath, and plunged on._

_"They were right about the destruction of our village setting an example for Riverford and the other local towns, but they were wrong about us going down easily. The men of our village put up quite a fight - and Jet's father was a true hero..."_

* * *

"The fire nation is coming."

Fire nation. How could a word Jet had never heard until a few hours ago inspire such fear in him? He didn't know who they were, but he knew he didn't want them to come. He didn't want to see his mother's face pale, her lip quivering, or her eyes brimming with tears. He didn't want to see his father gripping a pole arm with a white knuckled fist. He didn't want that bell to keep ringing like the end of the world.

"What do we do?" Chisui whispered.

Tenyu shifted his grip on the spear. "We fight."

"We what?"

"Allies will come from Riverford. That's what the bell system is for, not just to warn our village, but the surrounding towns as well." Chisui looked at him with pleading eyes. "They will come," Tenyu insisted as he began to strap his boots. "I know the men there, and they are as good as any. They will come. We just have to make sure there's something here for them to save."

"Tenyu..."

"Men are coming from Riverford, Daddy?" Liu asked. "Will they have rock candy? I like that!"

"Well, I don't know about rock candy, Liu, but if you're really good, I promise to get you some next time I go." He bent down to his son and took the baby hands around his own calloused fingers. "Will you be good?" Liu nodded solemnly. "Then I want you to listen to your brother, understand? Do whatever Jet tells you to, as fast as you can. Do you promise?"

"I promise," Liu agreed, slopping over the word a bit.

"And what do I do?" Jet asked, uncomfortable with the sudden change in responsibility.

"You be brave," Tenyu told him, "and do what your mother says. Keep Liu out from under her feet, and away from the village borders. Stay inside unless a grownup tells you otherwise, even if it's boring. Can you do that?" Now it was Jet's turn to nod seriously. "That's my boy," his father said, mussing his hair.

"But where are you going?" he asked as his father rose to leave.

"Father's going to stop the fire nation soldiers," Chisui told Jet, picking Liu up. "He's going to fight," she added, seeing confusion on his face.

"Why do you have to fight?" Jet demanded. "Why can't you stay here, with Mother and Liu and I? I... I'm ... I don't..." The eight-year-old's speech was lost to a huge sniffle, and the snot-face only a small boy can pull off.

Suddenly his father was hugging him. "I know, Jet," Tenyu whispered. "I'm scared too. But I have to go fight." He held his son back from him, at arm's length, and Jet felt like his father was looking at him in a much older way then the boy had ever been looked at before. "Someday you'll understand, but freedom is something we have to fight for - something worth protecting. Jet, never forget what you fight for."

He squeezed Jet's shoulder and rose. Jet watched him press a quick, parting kiss on his mother's lips which Jet always found disgusting, and pat Liu's head. Then his father turned and walked out the door, his shoulders wide and his spear held high, and Jet could already hear the villagers calling for his advice in strained voices.

* * *

Staying inside was boring!

Jet concluded this about an hour after his father left. At first it had been exciting and terrifying watching the men mass outside. His father barked orders, and weapons were found or made from spears and blacksmith's hammers to hoes and pitchforks. But after everyone had moved out, only a few remaining to guard the town center and put out flames, things got boring.

The women were running around dosing anything flammable with water, and dissembling anything portable. Many already began packing their belongings, and Jet wondered if they were going to go somewhere. "Should we pack for a trip too?" Liu asked. "I want to go to Daddy!"

"No, Liu," Jet sighed. "Just be quiet. No one's gong on a trip."

"But look at everyone packing!"

"Father said he'll keep us safe if we stay here, so we're staying here!" Jet barked. "Now stop asking me things I don't know."

Liu was used to his brother's orders by now, but he had promised his father to obey Jet, so he just pouted. Jet was so bored he could have screamed. Eventually he got out a chalk and started playing games with Liu, drawing things on the earthen floor, but even that got boring fast with only two of them to play, and Jet always won.

By the time the evening rolled around, Chisui was exhausted from a hard day's work, and Jet was in a state of torpor at the windowsill, while Liu chased a lizard-fly around the room with a jar he'd unearthed somewhere. But Chisui's weariness, Jet's boredom, and Lui's bug were all forgotten in an instant when Tenyu returned.

The gallant warrior seemed unharmed, other then a few scrapes and bruises.

"Thank the heavens!" Chisui hastily made her way to her husband, locking him in an embrace.

"Honey...not in front of the kids..." Tenyu jested, earning him a smack in the back of the head from his worried wife.

"Daddy's home!" Liu ran past his brother and followed his mother's action in hugging Tenyu.

Jet not to be outdone by his little brother, followed with much more gusto, almost knocking his father over.

"Okay, okay everyone! Slow down. I'm still kinda bruised after all." Tenyu smiled warmly.

"What happened? Is everyone alright?" Chisui asked with concern.

"Its okay, Chisui. It was just a small lightly armed party. Yan and Ye managed to round up some of our make-shift bows, took a few of our men and ambushed them from behind. We managed to thwart their plans and drive them back off with their tails between their legs." Tenyu smiled; while his warrior days had long past him he still felt like a boy, exuberant from something so exciting. But reality settled in once again.

"...Old man Kazu got wounded... badly by a barbed arrow... we tried our best to pull it out, but the shaft wouldn't budge. I... I don't think he's going to make it..."

Tenyu's voice was filled with grief. The old blacksmith was well liked by everyone around town, him with his easy smiles and booming laugh. It had seemed that he would live to be about a hundred years old... he was only shy of sixty.

"Oh no..." Chisui felt her heart sank. Old Man Kazu had always been a part of the village ever since she was a little girl. To hear that he was actually dying... "Who else?" She looked at her husband with remorse.

Tenyu could barely look his wife in the eye. She was always so gentle, his loving Chisui. How could he talk to her about grim matters such as death?

"...Chao lost his boys. Lin and Chin fought bravely..." Tenyu could still recall vividly how the two young men fought with such tenacity and courage. It took six arrows to take down Lin and a spear to the heart stopped his brother in his tracks. Jet watched the conflict flash across his father's face, without really understanding. "They were true heroes... Everyone was today..."

Chisui went back and embraced her husband fiercely. _It could have been him__,_ she said to herself. _It could have easily been Tenyu. _"...At least your safe." She gently stated.

"Dad's strong mom! He can't lose! " Jet exclaimed with one fist raised in the air; even if he wasn't so sure about the details, from the way his dad sounded it looked like they had won against whatever it was they were fighting - these, fire nation soldiers.

Tenyu gently laughed at his son but not before he gave his wife one serious look. Hugging her closely he whispered to her coarsely. "...If anything happens, if you hear anything... get ready to leave Chisui. Make sure the boys are packed and safe."

Chisui's eyes were now glazed with concern. "Whats wrong Tenyu?" she asked, as quietly as he had.

"It was a raiding party Chisui... the main army can't be far behind."

* * *

Captain Zhen would be the laughing stock of the entire fire nation army if ever word got out that his veteran group of raiders were soundly defeated by a bunch of mud-slinging peasants. Oh they were organized alright, these low-life villagers; he had to give them that much out of respect for their martial skills. They knew exactly where to strike, where to ambush, and where to retreat. An advantage given only the people who knew the land well. But the other officers wouldn't understand. All they would see is the professional army of the fire nation being tarnished by a simple village.

And that... was something that could never be allowed.

The honor of the 223rd first platoon was at stake.

He had no choice...

"Lt. Dian Wei," he called out.

A gruff, bald, towering man clad in the colors and uniform of the fire nation army emerged inside his tent.

" Yes Captain Zhen..."

The graying captain gave his seal upon a piece of parchment. Slowly he folded the content and gave the scroll to the Lieutenant.

"Deliver my message back to headquarters... and send in the Rough Rhinos..."

* * *


	4. Chapter 3: Fire

Author's Note: Ahh God - _this chapter is making me cry and I haven't even started writing yet! TTTT_

_When Iroh met the Rough Rhinos I thought they were funny. But the way Jet sees them (and Trombe writes them) scares me! (I'm easily intimidated!)_

_ps - finally a long chapter! hurray! (to end on a happier-ish note) - artsyelric_

**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**Freedom's Prodigal Son**

_**Fire**_

_"The Rough Rhinos?" The Duke asked. "Who are they?"_

_"...The worse kind of soldiers you'll ever meet... Believe me... I know..." The silent archer left it at that.  
_

* * *

Night peacefully crept onto the shaken village of Grasshaven, the midnight sky covering the land like a cool dark blanket. Yet the stars did not come out to play. Not this night. Only the moon's glow and the lanterns around the village's apothecary remained against darkness' embrace.

Tenyu found no difficulty in getting some much needed rest, his old body tired from the day's latest excursion. He moved slightly to the left side of the bed, feeling the warm hands of his beloved wrapped around his waist. He blinked his right eye open, daring to take a peek at Chisui's peaceful face. _She's so beautiful..._ he thought. He gently brushed off her soft brown locks from her face and tucked them behind her petite ear.

How he remembered that day he first met her. He was so young then, barely a day over his eighteenth name day. He was brimming with confidence, so full of himself. He remembered their rocky courtship. Their first date. Their first kiss. Their first born... who was now sleeping soundly in his room. He smiled.

They were his world. His wife and his sons.

And he would die before he would allow anything to happen to any of them.

The hours went by without a sound. Perhaps he had been wrong and they _weren't _a raiding party. Perhaps they were just a detached unit sent only to raze the countryside and collect some food.

He hoped and prayed that it was just that, his last conscious thought before slumber took him.

* * *

"Dawn..." Colonel Mongke sniffed at the crisp air, reveling in the sun, which rose with a warm burning glow, her light rays covering the green land under her powerful gaze.

It was the perfect day to avenge their losses.

Captain Zhen had embarrassed himself and his platoon yesterday by being shown up by these rebel peasants. He made the right choice in calling for Mongke and his Rough Rhinos. Although Colonel Mongke was irritated at the fact that he was cleaning up someone else's mess, he was always up for a battle. The Colonel hadn't found one he didn't like.

But in the back of his mind he knew this would be no battle. They were going up against farmers and pitchforks. A badly equipped, poorly disciplined, militia. No. This was no battle. This was going to be a slaughter. Where was the honor in that?

Still orders were orders.

And who was the Colonel to challenge his superiors?

"Rough Rhinos! Fall in and move out!" he barked out his loud orders, and the fierce komodo rhinos they rode trampled the green grass in their wake as they began their descent into the village.

* * *

"Alarm! Alarm! Fire Nation soldiers are here! To arms! To arms!!"

Tenyu woke abruptly at the sound of constant yelling. The gongs and bells wildly ringing, as the village began to stir.

"Oh no..." he whispered hoarsely before jumping out of his bed and quickly strapping on his boots.

"W... what's going on?" Chisui asked, barely awake, her hands rubbing the morning crust from her eyes.

"Trouble," he hastily said, crouching down and gripping his wife's shoulder's tight.

"Remember what we talked about last night. Don't come out until I come back." He kissed her forehead gently.

"W-what..." Chisui was still a bit groggy.

Suddenly a high pitched scream woke her from her drugged like state. Tenyu quickly looked in the direction where the scream originated. It wasn't far. This was turning out for the worse.

"Take care of yourself love... and watch out for the boys." He bid her a quick farewell as he once again wielded his spear and quickly jumped out the window to confront the danger.

What he saw could not have been more disheartening.

Red clad soldiers riding vicious dragon-like beasts, with eyes that glowed an ominous red. These men were not just soldiers. He had heard tales but never in his entire life would he have seen himself fighting against the legendary cavalry corps known as the Rough Rhinos.

And a surprise attack to boot. He looked around and saw many of his men, individual friends he had once known, cut down mercilessly, surprised and out matched by their new found opponents. He saw trails of blood everywhere, merchant huts charred as they burned. The fire looked like it had a life of its own, quickly consuming the wooden and straw parts of huts and houses, and scorching their stone foundations.

A stray arrow flew his way, catching his attention as he spun around.

A man with his face painted like a demon, notched an arrow and pulled back on his string. Tenyu knew the archer was aiming for his heart.

Quick as a flash he dashed towards his assailant, whose arrow flew from the bow with godlike speed and precision.

Tenyu was even quicker, knocking the arrow out of the air with a single swipe from his spear, the feathers that adorned the tip ruffled with the wind. That must have surprised the archer as he blinked in surprise, and Tenyu used his shock to close in. The man didn't even have time to pull another arrow from his quiver before Tenyu sent him flying off his mount with a well placed kick to the head.

Two more soldiers came from around him. Their mounts looking angry and ferocious as they snorted and charged towards him. The aging warrior had enough time to jump up high in the air, with a graceful split, causing the two komodo rhinos to collide with one another.

The two riders jumped off clumsily. Giving out a typical cry, the two brandished their dao swords and ran towards Tenyu.

Eagerly anticipating the two, it was quite easy for Tenyu to avoid their slow swings. He answered back with a wide arc of his spear, knocking the two riders flat on the ground.

"And here I thought this village only had smelly old farmers and traders..." A gruff voice caught Tenyu's attention, his long hair held back in a tie, its tail flowing freely down his shoulders, bound with white wraps along its length. "...Now I see it hides a scorpion-tiger as well."

Colonel Mongke eyed the man. The colonel prided himself in his martial prowess. He took it upon himself to learn as much as he could of the martial arts, the best the world had to offer. Knowledge of the arts did pay off, as he was about to prove again this very moment.

There was no mistaking it. That stance. That style.

"I'm surprise to find the great Tenyu of the Six Striking Spears to be here among such filth."

Tenyu looked long and hard at the man who had called him by such a long forgotten name. The image that title conjured up was of a young man, fierce, proud, boastful and arrogant. It was an identity he had thought to leave behind years ago.

"I have not gone by that name in ages. And I'd take care before insulting my village soldier." He spun his spear once over head, just to get the feel for it.

"...Then you shouldn't have tangled with our campaign, warrior." Colonel Mongke's eyes narrowed as he opened his palm to reveal an intense ball of flame.

"This... will be your grave..." And with that threat, the two two began their dance of death.

Tenyu's speed wasn't what it was used to be, but it was sufficient. His quick thrusts made the Colonel and his komodo rhino warily switch from side to side, narrowly avoiding the sharp spear tip, the steel ringing with clarity with each passing thrust. A spear user such as Tenyu had the advantage against a mounted opponent.

But the Colonel was no mere soldier. As veteran of war, he had a few tricks up his sleeve for such measures. If reach was Tenyu's strength, then he would counter it with his own. In a flash he blazed a whip made of solid fire into his hands as he began to lash out to counter the warrior's spear movements.

Again and again they clashed, and the duel went on. Fire and steel in an eternal dead lock. It would have been an even match, but the Colonel had possessed an advantage since the very beginning.

It's a wonder what the body goes through as it ages. The muscles deteriorate, the mind slows down, and the reflexes are hindered. Tenyu breathed hard as he tried to capture some air in his lungs. He realized what the Colonel must have known from the start. He was not going to last much longer. Already Tenyu felt the grip of his spear becoming heavier and heavier.

If he was to win this he had to end this now.

Giving out a powerful cry, Tenyu leaped into the air, spinning the spear overhead one last time before launching out one final piercing blow.

The Colonel's eyes opened wide as time seemed to stand still, and he watched the desperate warrior hovering above the air, with spear in hand, its tip pointing directly at him. There was no time to dodge it. He braced himself, readying for the sharp tip to pierce through his light leather armor.

There was no impact.

To both warriors' surprise, the spearman was flying backwards. Three arrows with black feathers were protruding from his chest.

Tenyu fell hard into the ground; dust flew where he landed. His head impacted on a rock. He couldn't see straight. He couldn't tell if the pain was coming from his head or his chest.

His vision was blurred. His heart beat was erratic and fast. He heard nothing except two small voices.

"You idiot! That was between me and him!"

"Sorry sir... but he would have had you if-"

"If nothing... this was my fight and no one interfers in my fight, got it?!"

"Sorry sir, I-"

"Get out of my sight before I decide to feed you to my rhino!"

"Ha, sir!"

"...this isn't how a warrior should go... the poor bastard... He's still breathing..."

Tenyu couldn't make out the shape, it felt like only shadows existed around him. A dark veil seemed to covered his eyes.

"...I admired your spirit, Tenyu of the Six Striking Spears... really I do... but orders are orders... the very least I could do is release you from your pain..."

Tenyu could barely make out what the shadow was saying. Nevertheless aside from his pain he found the strength to pray one last time.

_Please be safe Chisui, Liu... Jet._

* * *

"What's going on now, Mother?" Jet called. "The bell stopped."

"Jet," she hissed, "get your brother, and grab all the blankets from your room." Her green eyes were intense, and Jet was afraid.

"What's wrong?"

"Do it now, Jet!"

Jet ran back to his room and grabbed the two blankets off his and Liu's bed. "Come on, Liu! Mom wants us to go. Get your shoes!" he added, pulling his on.

"I don't wanna go," Liu whined.

"What!" Jet demanded. "You were just saying you wanted to go somewhere yesterday! You said everyone else was packing and you wanted to go!"

"No!" the boy shouted. "No! I want Daddy!"

"Well, Daddy's not here!" Jet bellowed at him. He stopped and took a deep breath. "Listen, Father told you to do what I said, right?"

Liu nodded shyly. "I get rock candy!"

"Yeah, sure, Liu. So listen to me now, and get your shoes, okay? Quickly!"

"Can I bring my toy soldier?" he asked.

"Fine," Jet snapped, watching his brother pull his shoes on and grab a hold of his little stone soldier.

Suddenly the room shook like an earthquake, and Liu was thrown off his feet to bounce off his baby behind with a squeal. Jet grabbed onto the edge of the bed to keep upright. "What was that?" he asked, his eyes flying to the window. Fire burned outside, red, and crackling. Jet grabbed blindly at Liu. "Come on, let's go."

Jet ran out into the big room with Liu in tow. His mother was grabbing a few food supplies. "Mom, the window-"

"I know, Jet!" she said. "The fire nation is inside the walls."

"What? Mom, I don't understand!"

"Listen, Jet," she said, kneeling down and grabbing his arms. "We lost. Your father lost."

"No!"

"The fire nation is inside the walls. Your father would die before they set foot in here." Jet saw her choke back tears. "This town is lost. We have to get out of here alive. Do you understand me, baby? They want to kill us - we have to live."

"Why do they want to kill us?" Jet whispered.

"They've raided towns before. They'll take most of the women, and they'll kill..." her eyes darted to Liu, "...all the earthbenders."

Jet felt his hand tighten on Liu's. "He's a baby!"

"He's an earthbender. I know, this is hard to handle. I know. But please, Jet, we have to keep Liu safe. Do what I say. If I say run, run. Right away, no questions. Hide when I say hide. And keep Liu safe."

Jet nodded.

His mother wiped a tear out of her eye before standing. "Let's go."

* * *

Jet wanted to cry like Liu as his mother rushed through the streets, but he couldn't. Flames were all around them. In the distance he could hear women screaming. He saw Chizun's toy sword laying in the street. The boy's house was up in flames, and inside it someone was crying loudly.

Liu tripped, getting dirt on his clothes, and Jet pulled him to his feet. "Dirty," the boy said, and shook the dirt of his shirt in a big cloud of bending.

"Liu, no!" Jet scolded. "No earthbending!"

Liu's face scrunched angrily, but before he could protest, Jet dragged him on, down an alley between two houses.

They turned a corner towards the street, but their mother's arm extended suddenly, holding them back. "What have we here?" a deep voice barked. "I though all the young women were being taken to the center of the town. You seem to be heading the wrong way..."

"Hide, and don't move," Chisui whispered, pushing her boys back into the alley behind her and stepping into the open street. "I'm looking for my husband, Tenyu," she declared, lifting her chin bravely.

Jet peeked around the corner to see the man's eyes narrow. "That bastard's dead," he growled, grabbing her arm. "You're coming with me."

Chisui screamed as he grabbed her wrist, and Liu started crying. Jet covered his brother's mouth as he watched his mother, feeling tears on his own cheeks. _Father's dead..._

As the man pulled Chisui towards him, she lashed out with her fingernails, scratching his face. He cried out as a bloody scratch rose on his cheek, but caught her wrist again before she could run away. "Let go of me!" she shouted, to no avail.

"Mother-"

Jet's cry was strangled in his throat before it fully left his lips when her eyes met his. "Hide," she mouthed.

The man twisted her arm and began pulling her away. Jet's mind spun. "No," he whispered.

"Mommy!" Liu cried as Jet's hand left his mouth.

Jet pushed his brother backwards, and the six-year-old sat down hard in the alley. Jet snatched up a burning stick and let out an angry cry as he ran at the soldier, swinging his makeshift weapon. The soldier's eyes widened as Jet swung the stick, but it bounced harmlessly off his blood red armor, and he caught the second swing with his hand, snapping Jet's stick. "Look at this," he sneered. "Brats."

Jet suddenly tasted blood in his mouth as the man's foot slammed into his stomach. He realized he was laying on the ground at the base of the nearest building, and struggled to rise. His mother's shout was cut short as the soldier slapped her. "We don't kill brats," he grinned. "Someone has to be alive to tell the tale. Only earthbenders, and men. You're neither," he spat at Jet. "Come on," he added, starting to drag Chisui away.

"Mom!" Jet shouted, crawling towards her, his limbs sluggish, and blood in his mouth.

But he realized his cry was being echoed. "Mommy!"

"Liu, no!" Chisui shouted, and Jet turned his aching head to see his brother storm out of the alley on teetering legs.

"Mommy!" he cried again, and suddenly a huge rock detached itself from the crumbling building to fly at the fire nation soldier.

"Whoa!" the soldier cried as the rock shot towards him - and for a moment, Jet thought Liu had done it.

But half way to its target, the rock exploded in flames. Jet covered his face as burning shards hit the ground all around him. When he looked up, he saw a huge man in red armor atop a giant, horned beast. The mount huffed at the flames, and smoke danced around him. The man was even more terrifying. His golden eyes seemed to pierce whatever he looked at, and his black ponytail waved in the wind from the explosion. He grinned malevolently. "Watch yourself, soldier," he spoke, his voice a deep bass rumble. "They breed earthbenders young here."

"My Lord," the man said, pressing a fist to his open palm and bowing low.

"Nice woman. Give her to me." Chisui cried out as the man grabbed her arm and tugged her over his giant komodo rhino. He glanced at the boys. "You know what to do with earthbenders."

The soldier glanced at Liu. "He's a boy, my Lord," he replied weakly, in something too subservient to be a protest.

"Captian Zhen's orders are absolute,'" the Rough Rhino replied.

"Yes sir!" the soldier snapped, clicking his heals together and saluting.

The Rhino took off with Chisui. Jet felt tears in his eyes. "Mom!" he shouted.

The soldier glanced at him, and Jet felt hatred building inside him as the man's face seemed to burn itself in his memory. "Sorry kid," the soldier shrugged as he passed him. "That's war for you though."

He caught Liu and drew his sword. Suddenly the smoldering hatred Jet was feeling changed to desperation and fear. "What are you doing?" he demanded, trying to drag himself to his feet. "Stop it!" he yelled as his head spun and he ate a face full of dirt.

"Jet!" Liu cried as the soldier threw him to the ground and stepped on his shoulders. "No! Jet! Mommy!"

"You two should have stayed hidden," the man whispered as his sword dropped.

Jet cried out uselessly as the blood splattered across the ground and Liu's cry was cut short. Jet was wailing as he struggled to make his body respond. The man picked up the boy's body, dripping blood all across the earth as he hefted Liu's limp form onto a burning wagon. The beloved toy soldier fell from the child's lifeless grasp. "Liu!" Jet shouted as his brother's tiny, battered frame began to burn. "Don't put him in there!" He finally found his feet and charged at the soldier.

The man's armored fist met Jet's soft stomach. "Stay down kid," he whispered as blackness washed over Jet. "For your own good."

* * *

Jet awoke with a start, the smell of smoke and burning flesh thick in his nose, his head throbbing painfully, and a dull ache in his stomach. He rolled to his side and threw up, tears all over his face. He realized it was night, but there was so much heat and light from the fires all around him, it may as well have been day. _What happened?_

Suddenly the memories came rushing back to him. His mother's screams, Liu crying, the soldier's face as he ran the child through.

The blood.

Jet would have been sick again if he had anything on his stomach. Instead, his whole body trembled. He sat, reliving the terror in his own mind, a lost child with no one to turn to.

A group of fire nation soldiers ran past him, and he could see face of the man who killed Liu on all of them. His face twisted in rage as they past him without a second glance.

He pushed himself to his feet and ran on wobbly legs towards the edge of the village. When he finally reached the end of the buildings, his eyes widened in shock.

As far as he could see, fire swept the land. The grasses, golden and fresh just yesterday, were now burnt to the grown, a see of golden flames dancing in their place. Death and destruction was everywhere. People screamed, and soldiers poured into the village, red and gold armor wherever he looked. In the distance, he saw a huge pile of smoke. _A funeral pire,_ he realized. _They're burning everyone, like they burned Liu._ He had no doubt now that his father was dead.

Suddenly a guard came into sight, patrolling the outskirts of the village. The man lowered his spear. "Who goes there?" he demanded in a rough voice.

"I'm looking for my mother!" Jet begged. "Please, have you seen her? Her name is Chisui, and the big, bald man with a long ponytail took her away on his rhino!"

The man's expression hardened. "Did he? Sorry to hear that. Your mom's dead, kid."


	5. Chapter 4: Abandon

Author's Note: This is finally the chapter where Jet starts acting like Jet! Hurray! He's still eight, but he's not a spoiled kid no more, but becoming the confident, fire-hating leader we all know and love! ahem ahem -artsyelric

**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**Freedom's Prodigal Son**

_**Abandon**_

_Longshot stopped and took a deep breath. This was the hardest part for him to tell. He'd gotten through a lot of it, but there was still more bad to come. The Freedom Fighters pushed closer to him, anxious for the story, but Smellerbee growled at the closest, like an animal, and some backed away._

_A hand grabbed her shoulder, and Longshot gave her a shaky smile in gratitude before releasing her. "It's okay," he said. "I need to tell this." He looked up at the people around him. His friends. His family. "I've needed to say this for a long time..."_

* * *

"Your mother's dead, kid."

_Your mother's… dead…_

_Dead…_

Jet didn't remember leaving the man behind or turning away from his town. All he knew was that he was running. Running with complete abandon. Where he was running to, he didn't know either, but he knew what he was running from. Those men, their swords and fire, the fresh memories that plagued his mind, and the words that man had just said. _Your mother is dead._ He was running from the only place he had ever known, his home. But there was nothing left to run from, nothing there for him to leave.

Which made it all the more urgent that he run.

But no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't get away from the horror, and eventually, the tears caught up with him. Fear kept his legs moving a while longer, but eventually he collapsed over a tree root and lay there, not caring or knowing where he was, curled up in a little ball so he could cry freely, like the eight-year-old, orphaned child he'd now become.

* * *

How much time passed, Jet didn't know. He cried himself into a stupor, something close to a sleep. Everything still hurt just as badly as it had before, but tears didn't come any more. He was too tired to cry.

What brought him out of his torpor was his stomach. It hurt, and he was hungry, but he had nowhere to go and nothing to eat. He didn't even know where he was, and only vaguely what direction he had come from. He would have cried then, just from being lost and hungry, but he had no more tears. _And no one will come, even if I do cry. _The realization left him even emptier.

He got up, picked the closest direction he could to back the way he'd come, and started walking. He didn't want to return to the village, to see the soldiers, and face his empty house or see the bloodstains. But he only knew one place in the world, and so he returned to it.

_Maybe I can follow that road to Riverford_, Jet thought. _Maybe they have food there. Father said… Father said there were fish in the river. I always wanted to eat a fish._ His stomach rumbled. Right now he wanted to eat anything.

Eventually he found his way back to places he recognized, and found himself at the edge of the forest, looking back at his smoking village. His young eyes widened in fear.

It was still crawling with fire nation troops.

He could smell smoking, and even cooking, and his mouth watered, but his legs shook and he was afraid to go nearer. The faces of the fire nation soldiers still haunted him, and even being this near to the town was terrifying him. _What if they catch me and kill me too?_

Suddenly, the bush behind him rustled, and something locked tight around his legs.

Jet cried out in fear as he turned around, the cruel faces of the men rearing up in his mind. But as he twisted, he fell, the vice-like grip on his legs tripping him.

Jet grunted as he hit the ground, and look down his body to see another boy, covered in dirt. The boy had his hands locked around Jet's waist, and was shaking in silent tears. "Chizun?" Jet grunted. "What are you doing? Get off!"

But the boy held tighter the more Jet tried to pry him off. "Stop it," Jet told him, finally freeing himself of the boy. "Don't follow me," he commanded, turning to leave. But moments later he heard a shuffling behind him. "I said, don't!" he growled. "Go away!" The boy bent down over his legs and the strange, completely silent sobs took him again.

Then a loud rumble came from Jet's stomach, and the crying boy looked up, his face filthy and contorted. "What?" Jet demanded, embarrassed. But then the younger boy's stomach let out a loud, gurgling sound as well. Jet sighed and shook his head. "We need food." He glanced at the boy. He no longer even looked like Jet's childhood friend. Jet wondered what he looked like after everything. Probably much different too. "I don't have any food, but I'm going to get some," he said with determination. "You want to help me? You don't look like you could eat much, runt."

The boy nodded with enthusiasm, and held his stomach. "The only food I know of is in the town," Jet mused. "But it's filled with soldiers…" The seven-year-old paled, and he collapsed into his shaking sobs again. "Stop that!" Jet repeated himself, grabbing the boy's wrists as he covered his face and head. "Chizun, stop crying." But whenever Jet said his friend's name, the boy started shaking even harder. Sighing, Jet abandoned all attempt at a name, and pulled the boy's hands away from his face, forcing their eyes to meet. "Stop that now! We have to think about how to live right now, so stop crying." After a few moments Jet's assuring tone seemed to take effect, and the boy managed to choke back the sobs and stand again.

"All right, now no more crying until we get food; understand, Runt?" The smaller boy nodded dismally, but he followed Jet like a puppy as the older boy started pacing. "Firebenders are weaker at night," he mused. "Maybe when the sun sets, we can go back and get food. It'll be just like hide and seek!" he told his partner when the boy's face fell miserably.

"Come on, we need food, and it'll be fun! Like a game! In fact," he whispered to his friend, "I bet I get more food than you."

The runt shook his head in disagreement.

"What, you think you can get more than me? I'm the king of sneaking!"

The boy shook his head again, thumping his own chest with pride.

Jet grinned. "You're on. Food hunt tonight! We'll eat until we're fat!"

But Jet didn't think any amount of food would fill the painful hole that was eating at him since the day before.

* * *

The cool night air gusted across the smoking village as Jet darted from shadow to shadow in his own, ruined home. He had two loaves of bread bulging out of his pockets, and some cow-elk jerky tucked down his shirt. He was just reaching into a jar to see if there was any rice left when he heard shouting in the street.

Grabbing the whole jar of rice, he ducked cautiously out the door and slipped behind a fallen garden wall to watch what was happening.

Two fire nation soldiers were chasing someone down the street towards him, one waving a sword, the other weaponless, and apparently, helmetless. Jet's eyes widened as they drew close enough for him to see what they were chasing.

Chizen.

The boy was running with his arms rapped around a bunch of sausage links. Jet was about to stand up and call to him when the fastest soldier caught him and grabbed his arm. The kid let out a shout and wriggled free of the first soldier just as the second soldier caught up, swinging his sword. Chizen cried out as the sword bit into his arm, dropping all the meat links in the street and collapsing in on himself in pain and fear.

Jet let out a growl and ran out towards his friend with a maddening cry. He chucked the rice jar at the helmetless man's head, and heard the jar shatter as it smashed into his head. Then Jet barreled full forced into the armed man's knees. "Run!" he shouted at his friend as he and the taller man went down in a heap. "Runt, run!" he shouted, stumbling to his feet and grabbing Chizen by the arm.

The boy was still wailing soundlessly, but he followed Jet into a stumbling run back towards the forest. They heard the guards stumbling around behind them, but fortunately their eyes weren't as accustomed to the dark as the two boys since they had just been beside a bright fire, and Jet and Chizen knew the land. Plus, the children ran with the speed that only fear for your life can inspire, pell-mell and straight into the cover of the trees. They didn't stop until the village was far behind them. Jet wouldn't have stopped even then, but Chizen collapsed to the ground, whimpering slightly and wouldn't get up.

Jet finally gave up trying to run and bent down to see his friend. He saw that a long cut ran from his shoulder to his elbow. Jet didn't know much about cuts, but he thought it wasn't that bad. He'd gotten worse the time he had fallen into the ravine, and for a sword wound, he knew it could have been much worse. But he did know that it was bad to let it keep bleeding, so he cut the hem of his shirt and helped his partner wrap the cut

"What?" Jet asked as the boy watched him. "I didn't steal any bandages. Just food." The boy's eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's right, I got some food. You hungry kid?" He nodded enthusiastically.

Jet pulled the jerky out of his shirt and they split a loaf of bread. When Jet finished his half, he wished they'd gotten the rice too. They'd already eaten half the food he'd stolen, and they'd have to get more soon. "You think we've got enough left to make it to Riverford?" Jet asked his silent companion.

The boy looked at the food considering, and then shook his head no.

"Well, figures," Jet muttered. "I guess… we'll let your cut heal up a bit, and then if the soldiers still aren't gone, we'll steal some more food in a night or two-" the boy was shaking his head hard "-fine, _I'll_ steal some more food! Coward. And then we can go to Riverford. You've been there before, and Father… Father told me how to get there. We'll make it. You'll see."

His friend nodded, believing Jet just because he sounded so sure.

Jet just wished he was.

* * *

But the next day, the runt had a fever. Jet gave him the rest of the bread because he didn't seem to want the jerky, and then he went in search of edible plants around the forest, trying not to hear his mother's voice telling him which ones were good.

Soon Jet had a good pocketful of mushrooms and nuts, and he had even found a few berries. He ate his half on the way back, but his companion didn't want any. By that evening, Chizen was even sicker, and still hadn't eaten more than a few bites of bread.

Jet sighed. "I'm going back to the village tonight," he said. "Tomorrow, we're going to go to Riverford."

The boy shook his head weakly.

"Yes, we are, Runt. Listen here, those fire nation soldiers want us dead. They want everyone in our village to die, and not come back! If we die, they win! That's why I keep going, why I'm trying to live – because I don't want them to win! I want them to lose, and I want to win! Do you want to win, Runt? Because if you do, you'll come with me tomorrow." Jet turned away and stalked towards the town.

Before he left, he turned back to his friend. "And you'll eat that bread," he growled.

But he didn't get a chance to finish the command, because the runt snatched up the bread with a weak grin and began eating.

Jet smiled to himself as he turned back to the town. But, as he slipped through the trees, his smile faded. His mother said if a fever lasted a whole day, it meant you were really sick, and the runt was still really sick. Jet didn't even know what medicine to give him. It was going to be hard enough to steal food.

But he was greeted with the first good thing he'd seen in a while. The fire nation was gone. Smoke and fires no longer lit his small village! That meant he wouldn't have to hide! Any food he could find was free game, and maybe he could even go by the apothecary and look for medicine.

Jet ran around the houses looking for food. Most food was gone or eaten, and many homes were smashed or burned. The market had been turned upside down, and the butcher's shop was still smoldering. But he did find some houses that were still intact, and he pillaged all the food he could from the kitchen. Most fruits had gone bad, but he found more bread and meat. Not a lot, but enough for at least a few days.

When his arms were full, he left the abandoned houses and moved more cautiously into the center of the town. He didn't see anyone, so he slipped quietly into the apothecary. He was just browsing over the cures that weren't broken when the door slammed open.

"Who's in here!"

Jet's spine snapped straight, and he dropped a bottle of potion on the floor. It shattered with a crash and the man moved in the door.

Jet felt tears welling up in his eyes and his legs shaking. He could see Liu's face as the sword sliced through him. _I don't want to die!_

Jet pushed himself to his feet. The silhouette of the man moved away from the door, and Jet saw his opening and ran for it. His hand closed on the door as he heard the man call out, but he wrenched it open and shot through it.

He was just stepping across the threshold and into freedom when he ran into what felt like a trick wire. He didn't see anything, but whatever it was tightened around his throat and pulled him backwards through the door, dropping him flat on his back.

Jet coughed as he gasped in air and looked up to see the man standing over him, eyes glowering in the dark. It was over. He was caught, and now this man was going to end him the same way the fire soldier had ended his brother. Chizen would die in the forest, waiting for him to come back, when he never would.

He'd lost.

The man returned the long cane he'd just hooked Jet with back to his side and smiled, his teeth glowing white in the darkness.

"I said," he repeated, "who's in here."


	6. Chapter 5: A New Home

Author's Note: _there's an rvb (red vs blue) gag in here! props to the first person to find it XDDD i love that show! and the guys that made it rock! they signed a bunch of stuff for trombe and i at comicon a couple years ago - they're funny people._

so, _i'm trying to keep the chapters a bit longer here since we're posting slower - i've been kind of swamped with an animation project for my boss. but i made a jet amv in the meantime! i still might make a few adjustments (jet and zuko's scenes are so dark! damn their mysterious and angry auras!) but it's here: www . youtube . com / watch?vYz3j6AzUPo (just take out the spaces). anyway, hopefully we'll pick up speed again since my project is (please please please) almost done._

_also, please leave us comments! i know trombe had his anonymous comments blocked, but i convinced him to unblock them, so comment away if you want to have a say! (and stop texting me if you know me and can't comment 'cause you don't have a fanfiction account! love you guys anyway!) - artsyelric_

_(ps, there's been some confusion on the author's notes - from now on _**trombe will leave author's notes in bold, **_and artsyelric will write hers in italics! hooray! )_

.

.

**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**Freedom's Prodigal Son**

_**A New Home**_

_"Wait! Why would a fire nation soldier have a cane?" a girl with three ponytails called from the back._

_"Are you going to let me tell this story or not?" Longshot asked sarcastically._

_When he was met with silence, he continued._

* * *

"I said," the man repeated, "who's in here?"

"Stay away from me, you fire nation scum!" Jet yelled, swinging his arm as he backed away from the man.

But the reaction this drew was not the one Jet expected. The man started laughing. Jet blinked in confusion as the rich laughter filled the room. _Father used to laugh like that..._ "Stop it! Stop laughing at me!" Jet found himself yelling.

The laughter stopped quickly. "I'm sorry, my boy. You just looked so fierce, you reminded me of a friend." Jet quirked an eyebrow. "I'll let you in on the joke then. Take a good look at me." Jet did. he was an older man, maybe forties - Jet was too young to be good at guessing grown-ups ages; old was just... old. He wore mostly greens and browns in the traditional style Jet was used to, and was sporting a wooden cane. His long black hair now graying, was braided in the tradition of the people Jet's father had told him were from the capital city of Ba Sing Se."Now, have you ever seen a fire nation soldier who looked like me?"

Jet had to admit he hadn't.

The man smiled knowingly. "Don't worry. We often see only what we expect to see, and not what is really before us. You were so focused on fire nation troops that they were all you expected to see. But, as you can tell, I am not a firebender."

"Well if you're not fire nation, then who are you?"

"Now there's a worthy question," the man replied, his green eyes twinkling. "I'm from the nearby town of Riverford, and I came with some of my friends to help."

"You heard the bells then?"

"We did, but it seems we came too late..." The man's face held a grim expression. "When we arrived the place was already crawling with fire nation soldiers. Some of the women were taken prisoner. At least they're alive though..."

Jet's head hung. _She's dead kid._

"Well, we're looking for survivors now. We may have been too late to help save your town, but we want to do what we can. So, are you by yourself, or are there more of you?"

"...There's another boy," Hesitant at first Jet grudgingly admitted, marveling at how this strange man spoke to him so openly, as if he were already an adult. Usually when adults talked, Jet was left out, either because he didn't understand, or they didn't want him too. But this man spoke to him so directly and plainly, Jet didn't feel that way at all. Perhaps that was what made Jet reveal Chizun's situation - he already felt like his could trust this calm, smiling man. "He's sick though. His arm got cut, and now he's got a fever."

"Well then, I know just the thing," the man replied, leaving his post beside the door. Jet could run now, but he didn't want to anymore. Instead, his eyes followed the man as he browsed the plants and potions on the shelf. "Ah, here. " Stopping at a particular vial, the man plucked it out of the shelf."The wound is probably infected. We'll need to clean it thoroughly, and then bandage it with this salvo so it heals well. After that, the fever should go down. If it breaks, he'll be well again." Jet wondered how grownups always knew things like that. "Is this boy your family?"

Just like that, Jet's heart clenched. He had been so focused on living, or surviving, that he hadn't been thinking about his family. But now Liu's face swarmed in his vision, laughing, bleeding, burning. Hot tears welled up inside him, and his stomach lurched uncomfortably. "No," he managed, choked up. "We're not related. But he's my friend."

The man was eying him, and when Jet blinked away the beginnings of tears and met the adult's gaze, he found compassion and understanding in the deep green eyes. Jet felt a little odd about someone pitying him, but the eyes didn't seem to look down on him. When the silence became awkward, the man spoke. "You know...you're quite lucky to be alive, boy. "

_I'm not lucky. I just did what I was told. _

"...What's your name? Or would you prefer I call you rude little boy?"

Jet quickly glanced back at the man.

"I'm Jet," he sneered.

The man must have found that amusing because he smiled, leaning his hands on his cane. Then he before he slowly extended one to Jet.

"Hahaha...such defiance for such a small child...thats more like it."

Jet looked at his hand, as if it was strange or unfamiliar. Yet something compelled him to move his own and meet the man's hand.

The handshake was strong and firm. Much like his father's hand.

"Well then, Jet. My pupils call me Master. But you can call me Huo...and I would be honored to be counted as your friend."

* * *

Chizun was sicker then they had anticipated. Scared and confused, it took Jet a while to calm him down. But giving into exhaustion, the younger boy fell into an almost lifeless daze as they inspected him.

Jet saw his cheeks were red, and one they got the makeshift bandage off his arm, the cut was red, puffy and swollen, and infected in places. Jet got scared then,but the man who introduced himself as Huo was as clam as ever. "It's infected alright," he said, "but I've seen worse. The ointment I brought will help a lot."

"He won't die then?" Jet's voice was full of hope.

Jet realized right there and then how important Chizun was to him. He was Jet's last friend, the only person he'd been able to save. He didn't want the boy to die.

"He'll be sick for a while..." Huo replied, "but if his spirit's anything like yours, he'll be just fine."

Chizen cried and whimpered as Huo applied medicine and the bandages with herbs wrapped inside them to his wound. The whimpers were the first sound Jet had heard him make since the fires. _That means he can still talk. He just doesn't want to. _With that, Jet made up his mind.

When asked the question, he was ready. "What's your friend's name?" Huo asked, after the bandaging was done and the boy was resting peacefully again.

"I just call him Runt," Jet said.

The man frowned. "Well that won't do. He must have a name."

Jet shrugged. "When he gets better, he can tell you if wants." Chizun looked at him with dazed, half dead eyes. "Hear that, Runt? You better live, or no one will know your name."

The Runt just stared at him, and for a while, Jet wasn't sure he understood, or maybe cared. But then, he nodded, solemn-like and slow, and Jet could sense deep meaning behind the motion. Runt or not, Jet could tell that his friend was fighting off the fever , and that he would try to live. Yes... living was something they both could do. They wouldn't die. They would live, and they would remember. And someday they would find some way to make this right again.

Huosaw the unspoken pact cross between the two boys, so he decided not to push the name. Instead he reached out and picked up the Runt, nodding to him in that same respectful way he adressed Jet, like he was talking to a peer, not a child. "Well then, my new little friend, I look forward to the day when I can call you by your true name. Until then, we should return to the village and meet my friends."

Jet hesitated. "Where will we go?"

"Back to Riverford, if you boys would like." Huo paused as he considered a thought. "This place is no longer fit for anyone to live in."

"We were going to try and get to Riverford anyway," Jet considered, glancing at the Runt. The boy nodded, and Jet agreed. "We'll go with you. Besides," he added, with all the finality of his eight years, "the Runt still needs you because he's sick."

"Then I will do what I can for him."

Jet nodded his silent thanks, before turning his back on the man. He was tired. So very tired.

* * *

The journey took longer than Jet thought it would. Of course, they moved slowly to be careful of running into fire nation troops, and because they had sick people with them.

Jet and Runt weren't the only survivors, just the ones in the best shape. There was a man they'd found wounded from fighting, and covered with burns. He was alive, but they didn't know how long he'd last, and he hadn't regained consciousness. Jet remembered him from the blacksmith's shop, though he looked much different, and Jet couldn't recall his name. He asked Runt, but, as predicted, the kid didn't answer.

There was also a woman who had been uncovered hiding in the basement under her collapsed house. She was alive, but her mind was lost. Jet knew she'd been the youngest daughter of the man who ran the tea shop. Her name was Lyn, and she used to smile as she served the villagers. Now she just cried all the time, and she spoke to people who weren't there. said she was sick in her mind. It was possible she'd get better, but there was no medicine for the mind. Only time would tell. Jet wasn't holding his breath. He'd never met a crazy person before, but he didn't think the strange girl before him was still the same Lyn he'd known before.

In fact, no one who lived was the same. The Runt was still very sick and had to be carried the first two days. Fortunately, he was small enough one man could carry him and he didn't have to be on a stretcher like the blacksmith boy. There were only six men from Riverford - the rest had returned to their own homes when they saw the destruction and the massive amounts of fire nations soldiers that covered the land. Only five other men had stayed behind to hide out and look for survivors.

It was normally a three day trip to Riverford, but they'd already been traveling four days when the young man from the blacksmith passed away. Jet was glad that he'd died and not the Runt. Not that Jet wanted anyone else to die, but if it was a choice, he knew who he'd pick. Runt had gotten even sicker the second day, and Jet had been afraid, but by the forth day, he was much better, and even walked most of the time beside Jet. The evening after he walked, Jet cooked sweet plums on the fire (the last of the season) to celebrate how much better Runt was feeling. It was while the two were sucking the sweet, hot juice that came to break the news to them.

"That man from your village." Huo started, "he just died. We're going to bury him. Would you like to come say a prayer?"

Jet was scared. He'd never seen someone buried, and he didn't even really know this man.

Huo seemed to sense his hesitation, and smiled his warm smile, the one that reminded Jet of soft silk draped over strong steel. It was comforting. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but this man fought and died to protect his village, and you two are some of the last ones left. I'm sure it would honor him to have you at his burial."

"How do you honor the dead? They're...dead." Jet muttered under his breath.

Huo smiled as he laid a strong hand over Jet's shoulder.

"You-"

"Let me guess," Jet pouted, "it's something I'll understand when I'm older."

"I certainly hope not." Huo's smile was sadder now.

Assured that he wasn't being treated as a child again, Jet nodded his assent.

The funeral was extremely simple. An earthbender in the Riverford men opened a hole in the rock deep into the ground. They laid the young man's body in it, stood for a minute over him, each with their own thoughts. Then thanked him for his sacrifice, and the earthbender lowered him into the ground. A stone erupted at the tomb's head when the bender commanded, and scratched the words _Though we never knew your name, the men of Riverford and Grasshaven will never forget you._

"What does it mean?" Jet asked. read it to him. Jet's face dropped. "There are no men from Grasshaven to remember him." The boy's voice was heavy with regret.

"Sure there are," replied. " Theres the two of you."

* * *

Early the next morning, Jet untangled himself from the Runt, who had become his constant and inseparable shadow, and wrapped his blanket around himself. He started out, away from the camp, until he had a clear view of the sunrise. He was heaving himself up onto a big rock when suddenly Huo appeared in front of him. Jet let out a startled cry and fell backwards off the rock. "Sorry I scared you my boy." Huo smiled as he helped the young man up. "What are you doing up so early Jet?"

Jet glanced away sullenly, and then finally admitted, "I had a bad dream."

"Ah. That is to be expected though. Your friend has bad dreams too, and I think Lyn is stuck in a dream she can't wake from. Even I have bad dreams of my own." His eyes seemed to grow distant as he said the last, but when he looked back at Jet's concerned face, he smiled that reassuring smile again. "Most people have at least one tragic thing happen in their life. Most are just older before they have to go through it."

"Do they go away?"

"What?"

"The dreams," Jet said. "Do they ever go away?"

"No. But with time, they will grow less painful, and haunt you far less often. Do you want them to go away?"

"Yes."

"But..." The older man tapped his cane."If they go away, you forget."

Jet's brow furrowed. "Isn't that the point?"

"Then, you want to forget completely? Come up here, Jet, sit with me."

Jet scrambled up the rock and sat down beside . The man glanced at him. "Jet, if you forget one thing, you forget everything. Everyone's life has a purpose, a beginning, and an end. What is there at the end of our lives, Jet?"

The boy shrugged. "Death?"

"Usually. And then?"

"Then? Well, that's it. After you're dead, there isn't any more, right? Because your dead?"

"Think first, and then speak. We sound wiser that way." Huo gave him a small wink.

Jet considered it. After somebody died, what was there? The people he had known his entire life had just died. Everyone but the Runt had left him, so wasn't that the end? They were gone. Only he was still there.

Then he remembered the words on the nameless soldier's tomb. "When we die... people remember us?"

"So, if you forget them?"

"Then it really is the end!"

"Right! But, if you remember them?"

"Then..."

"Then it's not the end of them. They are still alive, with you. You lived for a reason, Jet. Because that young man died to save you. Because you fought. Because you're brave and kind, you must not forget them, but remember everyone, even after they're gone."

"Can't I remember them, but forget the part where they died?"

"Look at these trees. Would they still be trees if they had no branches? Or no leaves? Would it be the same?"

"Well," Jet grinned, remember the leafless trees of winter, "they would be uglier."

Huo smiled. "Exactly. So too would be a memory of someone that was incomplete. We are people. We grow, and change. Some people die the same person they were when they were born, and others die someone completely different. Our deaths can make a statement worth remembering too."

"I don't understand that." Jet admitted; the older man seemed to like saying things that confused him.

"That young man died for his village. Even if he had always complained to his father about wanting to leave it, or picked fights, or claimed to hate the town, when he stood and fought, and when he died for that village, it means that he loved it. Even if I didn't know him, I know that about him." The man's eyes turned on Jet. "And I know about you too. You will remember everything, even if I told you not to, because you are brave and strong, like your father."

"My father!"

"Before that young blacksmith apprentice died, even though he didn't tell us his own name, he told me who you were. He also told me about your father. I knew Tenyu from ... well, many places. But most recently, when he would travel to Riverford. He was someone I respected very much." Jet felt his throat burning. "Your father was just like that man. He died for something he loved. The things a man would die for often define him, and if I defined your father, he would be a brave, just, and courageous man, who loved and protected his family and his village with his last breath." Huo met Jet's watery, determined eyes.

"I see much of him in you." Huo said fondly.

Jet swallowed. "Before... before he went to fight, Dad told me to never forget what I'm fighting for."

"Wise words. It is easy to lose our focus in this world. But your father knew what he was fighting for in the end. He inspired the people of your village, and the young apprentice back there. That boy died a brave soldier, but he woke up that morning a scared young man. It was your village, and your father, that gave him the strength to pick up a weapon and fight. That's what he chose to remember, and to leave to us. The memory of your father, a strong leader, who died with his family's name on his lips. He knew what he was fighting for, and it made him strong."

"He fought well then?" Jet asked.

"He was a terror to the fire nation troops. He fought the leader of the Rough Rhinos himself. Your father, and mother, were heroes."

_Liu was too then,_ Jet realized. _He died fighting, just like dad._

"I think I understand," Jet told . "If I forget Dad and the others so that I don't dream about them dying, then I won't remember how brave they were, or how much they love me. Mom would want me to remember. They all would."

"Very good, Jet. Very wise...for a rude little boy." he added, a more playful tone in his voice, and Jet glanced up, he quirked an eyebrow at the boy.

"Maybe one day, I will be as brave as Father, and as wise as you," Jet predicted.

The man laughed. "Oh, what the world would be in for if you were, my boy. One of me is more than enough." He rubbed Jet's hair as he chuckled. He looked back at Jet more seriously. "Someday, you will be yourself, and that will be worth much more than either of us, I hope."

"What does that mean?" Jet asked.

"That I hope you will be someone who can make a difference," the man replied. "Now, enough chitchat. The sun is up, and we need to move on. If we move quick enough, we should reach Riverford before lunch..."

Jet followed back towards camp as he contemplated the man's words. _Someone who will make a difference... I will make a difference, _he decided_. I will remember, and someday, I will _stop_ the fire nation!_

* * *

"Riverford is just over this hill," Huo told the boys as he pushed back a branch.

Jet's eyes widened. The town was much bigger than Grasshaven had been! To Jet, it was a huge hub of trade, the largest he had ever seen. Houses stretched across the whole valley, with actual stores, and a river! Blue and white, it wove through the red trees and golden grass, and the sound it made was musical. In actuality, this village was not nearly as large as even the smallest earth kindom city, but to Jet, it was humoungus. The Runt tugged at his sleeve, gesturing harshly, and Jet's eyes followed his excited motion. "The dam!" he realized.

What he had taken to be a mountain wall rising sharply behind the building was really a giant, man made wall of earth, through which a controlled stream of crystal water was flowing. Above the dam, Jet could see the widest expanse of blue, blue water he had ever laid eyes on. Runt folded his arms triumphantly across his chest and Jet conceded. "All right, all right, you win," he said. "There is a giant lake here..." Runt nodded smugly, and Jet shook his head as they followed the group down into the town.

Riverford was filled with people, and Jet knew he would never learn all of their names. There was easily three times as many people living and trading here than had lived in his entire village. The shops were filled with merchandise both familiar and terribly foreign. He stared at furs and pelts of creatures he'd never dreamed of, his eyes hovering over the giant fang of what he thought was a saber-toothed moose-lion's, but was the shopkeeper was claiming to be a walrus-whale's from the south pole. Jet thought the man was just making up animals, but the customer seemed to believe him, so Jet moved on.

The food booths were filled with fruits and vegetables Jet recognized, as well as prunes and kumquats, which the Runt seemed to recognize, but Jet had never tried. Runt made a horrid face though when Jet eyed a prune, so he decided he didn't want to try one. He also saw meat shops, and stands with what the vendor called fire flakes. Those made Jet angry. Even the word fire rubbed him the wrong way, a way that made his stomach knot in fear, and his jaw clench in anger. But then his stomach lurched for real as he saw the sticks of rock candy beside them.

_Daddy said I get rock candy!_

"Liu..."

Jet hadn't realized he'd stopped dead until the Runt bumped into him. But the he realized that the voice wasn't Liu's. A small boy tugged at his mother's arm as he pointed at the stand. "Daddy _said_ I could!" he insisted.

Jet blinked. The boy had to be at least Jet's age, but he seemed so much younger. So much... happier. _I've grown,_ Jet realized. He met the Runt's gaze, and saw how much deeper his eyes were, how the carefree nature Chizun had possessed was almost gone. Jet wished he was still begging his mother for rock candy, or telling Liu off for crying about it.

He turned away from the stand, wishing he could look at anything but the rock candy. But what he saw next made him amend that wish. He heard himself shout as his eyes locked on the fire nation uniform.

Red stained it's way through the green and brown of the earth kingdom, even more sharply contrasting than the blue water had been. The man walked with deadly grace, and Jet wondered why everyone else wasn't running. Quite the contrary, they were simply standing by as if the man were nothing out of the ordinary. Jet started to yell, but Huo's hand closed tightly on his shoulder.

"I should have warned you both," he said, and Jet felt the Runt shaking beside him as Huo's other hand squeezed him tighter. "Two days after Tenyu left this village, we were invaded. They offered a peaceful occupation rather than annihilation and gave us three days to decided. The next morning, we heard the bells and knew Grasshaven was under attack. That's why so few of us came. Riverford surrendered, and now the fire nation soldiers command this town. We are allowed to live as we want, as long as we don't go against the fire nation. We are a conquered colony now."

"So... you just _live _with ... THEM?" Jet yelled.

"Yes," Huo replied. "As will you, if you want to live." Jet felt as if he'd just been had in pai sho. The older man nodded. "Don't worry," he added, the twinkle back in his eye. "They will find us harder to control than they think. And you'll learn to fit in soon enough."

Jet watched the fire nation man round the corner, and only after he was out of Jet's line of sight did Huo's words sink in, and Jet realized something horrible. "But... where will we live?"

"Oh, I thought that was all settled," Huo replied. "I was hoping you would live with me."

"With you?" Jet echoed, and the Runt seemed amazed at the hospitality. "For how long?"

"Why thats completely up to you my boy."

"Really?"

"As long as you don't let slip that we saved you from Grasshaven, I don't think anyone will bother us about where you came from. The fire nation hasn't been here long enough to know how many people I have at my house. We should all be safe, as long as you can keep the secret."

"Of course we can!" Jet declared.

"And I guess I don't have to worry about you running your mouth?" added to Runt.

The boy shook his head enthusiastically, almost looking like his old, excited self again.

"Well then," Huo concluded, putting his hand on a giant wooden door with a flower and a sword carved into it, "welcome to your new home."


	7. Chapter 6: Si Fu

Author's note: _artsyelric: sorry the chapters are coming out slower now - trombe's in charge of these next few chapters, and he writes much slower than me! not a bad thing, just true. but i'll keep him trucking by bugging him everyday, so those of you dying for us to post, i'm trying! thanks for your patience!  
_

**trombe: No comment here.  
**

* * *

**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**Freedom's Prodigal Son**

_**Si Fu**_

* * *

"Welcome to your new home."

As the door swung open Jet found his eyes widening at the size of Huo's home. It was enormous. Practically five houses put together. Entering inside, he found himself walking into a quaint courtyard, complete with two moon peach trees that stood in the middle, their pink petals flowing freely from the wind, indicating fall's return.

The Runt beside him tugged at his sleeves. "Yeah… I know… wow…"

The older gentleman smiled as he walked in, twirling his cane in place.

"Fu Xi… Nu Wa… We have guests."

The sliding doors opened simultaneously as two figures clad in matching uniforms bowed.

"Welcome home, Si Fu Huo," they replied in unison.

A young man, whose brown hair was cut short, abruptly met Jet's gaze before returning his attention back to Huo. Jet blinked. He had stern, silver eyes. They were strong, but intriguing. Jet had never met someone with silver eyes before - he wondered if all silver eyes were that piercing.

"It is good you returned unharmed, Si Fu," he curtly replied, breaking eye contact with Jet.

That was the second time Jet heard the title Si Fu being addressed to Huo. _Master of what?_ Jet wondered, translating to himself._ The house?_

"It's unfortunate that I'm the only one who is unharmed, Fu Xi. We were too late, as you had already predicted."

Fu Xi lowered his eyes for a second before bowing again. "I meant no disrespect Si Fu, I just-"

"No, my pupil. There is no need to apologize." Huo paused as he sighed. "There was wisdom in your words. A wiser man would have heeded them and listened." Huo smiled sadly. But after a moment the regretful expression faded, and he chuckled softly. "Too bad the man who stands before you is a fool."

"Are these…" The young woman's voice died out, leaving the question unfinished, as she carefully knelt beside Fu Xi and looked tenderly at both Jet and the Runt beside him.

Jet met her gaze and saw she had the same shocking eyes as the man, but hers were of molten silver. With her long, dark braid and eyes, she had the same face as Fu Xi, only hers was as gentle as his was strict. Apparently not everyone with silver eyes had the same fierce look, but her eyes had their own intrigue to them. Jet was bemused by the two look-alikes, so similar, and so different.

"Yes," Huo answered her unspoken question. "They're survivors of the village... the lasts sons of Grasshaven."

Both Fu Xi and the woman Jet assumed was Nu Wa looked at the boys with pity in their eyes.

Jet hated that. He hated being reminded of how he couldn't do anything to have made a difference. He couldn't stand how sorry they felt for him, and the distance that pity immediately created between them.

"Ahem..." Sensing the boy's annoyance Huo tapped his cane lightly on the ground.

"This young man here is Jet," Huo informed them, holding a strong hand over the boy's shoulder.

"And this is..." He hesitated, looking over at the Runt.

Jet nodded at his friend when he was sure Chizun wasn't going to answer. "He's called Runt," Jet declared, abandoning the boy's given name for the last time. "Or at least thats what I call him. He doesn't talk much."

The silver eyed woman smiled as she bowed to both of them. "Greetings young ones. My name is Nu Wa... and this-" she added, elbowing her harsher male version, "-rude young man here is my twin brother Fu Xi."

Fu Xi eyed the boys disinterestedly before nodding his head in respect.

"The children had a very long day Fu Xi," Huo stated calmly as he walked past the twins, tapping his cane once more on the ground to shake of the dirt that had gathered around its base. "Could you show them to the guest rooms? Or maybe somewhere more permanent... They are staying with us from now on."

"As you say Si Fu." Fu Xi bowed one last time before he signaled the boys to follow him.

A moment of hesitation took over Jet as he looked back at Huo. "It's alright Jet. Fu Xi only looks like he eats platypus-bears. He's quite harmless," the old man jested.

If Fu Xi was supposed to be offended by that comment it didn't show on his face.

Grudgingly, Jet followed the stern looking young man as he led them out of the courtyard. And where Jet went, the little Runt followed. For a while no one talked. Jet wasn't really sure what to say. At first he'd thought Fu Xi was just mad at Huo's words, but from what he observed, it seemed Fu Xi just liked to keep to himself. "I bet the two of you would get along swimmingly," Jet whispered to his tiny companion, but Runt only looked at him with complacent eyes, and Jet shrugged as he gave up trying to figure out the strange relationship between the two grown men.

They passed an open hall, and Jet felt his young, ever curious eyes drawn helplessly to what laid inside. What he saw was far more interesting than anything else he'd found around the house yet. Inside the hall all the walls were decorated with gleaming swords and weapons of all sizes. Racks with spears adorned with colorful feathers, blades shimmering in the afternoon light and casting reflections across the floor. Inscriptions in the old earth language were etched above the passageway.

"...whoa..." Jet gaped in typical eight-year-old fashion.

To his surprise, a small smile crept up on Fu Xi's face at Jet's comment. "Is it that surprising?" he inquired nonchalantly.

"What's surprising?"

"That." Fu Xi nodded in the direction where the open hall was. "The room your gawking at."

"It... it's just that I've never seen so many weapons before."

"Can you read, Master Jet?" Fu Xi asked with hidden meaning behind his words.

"...I can... my mom taught me." The last part still hurt a bit to say, but Jet wanted to remember everyone, and his mother teaching him to read was a proud memory for him.

"Then," Fu Xi concluded, "you should have read the sign outside near the gate. You've entered the home of Si Fu Huo Ghong Tao, the Jade Whirlwind," Fu Xi informed Jet proudly.

* * *

The very next day Jet woke to the sound of yells and grunts. At first he was alarmed at the thought that maybe the Fire Nation had decided to attack again. His mind shot back to the horrible morning what seemed ages ago, and he felt himself reach instinctively for Liu. He latched onto the warm body sharing his bed, but it was the Runt who stirred drearily beside him, and the room around him foreign. After a frightened moment, he finally remembered where he was, and calmed down when he realized no one was screaming, nor were bells ringing. There was no fire or ground shaking outside his window, just the wind, which blew coolly, like a breath gusting into the room, indicating neither threat nor alarm.

But there was definitely shouting. Controlled, measured grunts and responses drifted in, muffled by the wind.

Curious, Jet got out of bed and quickly looked for his sandals, not caring to fix his hair or wash his face.

The sound seemed to be coming from the great weapons hall he had discovered the other day. Slowly he peeked around the corner, amazed at the sight. Three neat, tight rows of young men and women moved as one, yelling out or grunting as they punched the air in front of them. They whirled around with breath taking speed ,jumped and then each executed a powerful kick. It was amazing, Jet could not believe it. The powerful bodies moved as one, with the sharpness of an attack, but such grace it was like a dance. They flowed from form to form in a mesmerizing manner Jet couldn't tear his eyes from. He was enchanted immediately.

Jet was so engrossed he failed to notice the one leading them in the martial dance. Huo stood at the very center, with cane in tow, and his arms held behind his back as he paced back and forth between the rows.

"Again!"

And they would thrust.

"Again!"

And they would swirl.

"Again!"

And they would jump.

Before Jet knew it his feet tapped to the rhythm of their kata.

"Pupils... I've told you before, but if you're sloppy forms are any example, it seems to need repeating. The martial artist does not strive for perfection without, but rather within. Every breathe, every step, every action is not wasted. It is through our fists that we search for our purpose, and through our breath that we seek control. To do this, one must find their inner peace, and project one's self upon the world. To find ourselves... and enlighten ourselves; that is what we strive for."

Jet wished he understood what Huo was saying. He knew all the words, but the meaning behind them was lost to him. Yet all people in the room looked intently at their master with fixed eyes or nodding heads.

Suddenly a growl of rage came upon the crowd. Jet's eyes turned with everyone else's as they followed the sound, tracing it to a very large brooding man. Jet gasped - his arms were as thick as tree trunks! And he was stomping his way towards the calm older man.

"Gah! I'm sick of this crap! Si Fu Huo... Ha! Don't make me laugh!" the man raged as he towered over Huo. Jet's hands anxiously gripped the wall as he watched the scene unfold. " I came to this school thinking you would be able to help me in my earthbending. But ever since I got here all we've done are these stupid drills! That, and listen to the rambles of an idiotic old man!"

No one spoke out against the giant. In fact, no one made a move, or acted at all alarmed. Jet looked at Huo, wondering if he was the only one who felt the tension, and realized the master looked like he had barely payed attention.

"Ah... Gao-long... Impatient as always." Huo shook his head slowly in disappointment. "Did none of my words reach you?"

Gao-long stomped fiercely, a move that shook the room. "How could anyone understand that garbage you old fool! It doesn't make sense!"

"Perhaps I can help clarify the way for you then," Huo offered calmly.

"What you can do is teach me to become stronger." Huo made no move to respond to this demand, and the man huffed angrily. "I see now I'm just wasting my time. The Jade whirlwind... what a joke. I bet you only used that to attract pupils to this dump."

Jet noticed a slight gleam in Huo's eyes. "So, it's strength you want, is it? Maybe you could demonstrate for me this... strength of yours."

"Is that a challenge?" Now it was Gao-long's turn to laugh. "Don't be stupid! You yourself cannot bend. What chance do you have, old as you are against an earthbender?"

"You think being a bender automatically favors you as the better fighter?" Huo asked earnestly.

"Hahaha! With the power of earth at my command... I would crush you where you stand," Gao-long sneered through his teeth.

Huo tapped his cane lightly on the ground before looking Gao-long deep in the eye. "A bet then," he stated. "If you can defeat me Gao-Long, I will teach you all I know."

The rest of the pupils murmured quietly amongst themselves. Jet leaned towards them intently, wondering what they were saying.

"But," Huo continued, "if I win... you will never earthbend again, as long as you live."

Gao-long started at Huo for a moment, carefully measuring his words. "...You've got a deal old man."

Huo smiled and walked off, indicating for the challenger to follow. Gao-Long followed close behind. The rest of Huo's class scrambled to watch the event. Jet barely had time to get out of their way.

Determined not to miss anything this exciting, Jet followed behind the students as they migrated to the rock garden. A circle of people formed around the Master and his towering pupil.

"I'm going to enjoy pummeling that smug face." Gao-long cracked his knuckles with a crisp, loud sound.

"You can go ahead and try... my poorly misguided pupil," Huo baited, his grip shifting on his cane.

Jet hadn't imagine the giant man to be very patient, and he was pleased to see he was right. In true fashion, Gao-Long took Huo's bait without hesitation. Two fists came crashing down towards their master's lighter frame, like twin pinnacles of hard earth seeking to subdue him. But the falling fists found only air. Jet blinked. He hadn't even noticed the old man move. Quickly he looked around, spotting the old man had spun to the side with minimal effort, easily keeping his cool demeanor. No strand of his now graying hair was misplaced. It was if the wind hadn't even touched him.

Angrily Gao-Long side-stepped and commanded a sizable boulder to rise in the air, kicking it with might only an earthbender could muster. The rather large slice of granite flew with blinding speed. In that frozen moment, Jet for sure knew there was no way to avoid it. As the onlooking boy braced himself for the coming blow, he noticed Huo was as relaxed as ever. Jet couldn't understand the man's lack of concern - everything in the boy wanted to yell a warning to his new found friend.

But the moment passed, and the rock slammed into Huo. Jet gasped as it exploded into tiny harmless pebbles, a dust cloud swirling to cover the spot where Huo should be. The wind rose again, gently sweeping away the debris. Jet was scared to look, but found it impossible to look away. The dust cleared. Jet's felt his mouth drop. To everyone's surprise, it revealed Huo, with a single fist raised straight before him. His left hand held his cane calmly behind him as his knees bent in a horse stance.

A slow smile crept up the elderly man's face. "A single rock," he drawled, "is a piece of the powerful earth. Strong it may be... but find that one single crack, and see how easily it breaks."

Gao-long snorted, enraged, and was quick to re-assume the offensive. He tossed rock and earth, one after the other, at a blinding pace. Yet to no avail. Huo moved too quickly, his body flowing gracefully as the rocks barreled past. Before Gao-long even knew he was losing, the old master had broken into his circle. With an open palm, Huo's right hand shot out like a cannon, smashing directly into the burly chest of the colossal man. The force of his blow was strong enough to send the man flying backwards three feet before he tumbled to the ground.

"This is over Gao-long. You have lost."

"No!"

Gao-long stumbled back up awkwardly. He raced towards the master, and with three quick strides he jumped, landing fiercely, his right foot planted firmly in the ground. Three stones flew up in response. With a closed fist, he thrusted straight out, willing the stones to hurl themselves at Huo. The first Huo merely jumped over, the second missed him completely, and the third he caught by hook of his cane. Twirling around he redirected the stone back to its wielder, where it connected painfully with Gao-long's unguarded stomach. It exploded with a sickening crunch, sending the man fumbling to his knees, where he collapsed, groaning in pain.

Huo dropped the tip of his cane back to the ground, clearly taking Gao-long's collapse as a sign of victory. Cheers rose all around as the students celebrated their master's triumph. Even Jet found himself joining it.

"No... No... no... How could I lose?" Gao-long murmured in defeat as Huo walked over the fallen bender.

"You made a bargain Gao-long," Huo reminded him. "A promise is a promise... there will be no more bending for you."

The defeated giant's face seemed to be in agony, and not from his wounds. "But... but... how would I live? H-H-How will I surive?"

Huo's looked at the man with truth in his eyes. "How blinded you are Gao-long," he sighed, then abruptly turned his back on the defeated bender. "A man who relies solely upon his strength is not a man at all," he declared, clearly done with the whole experience.

So it was with that advice that he left his students, looking as if he wished the disgraced earthbender would ponder those words. Perhaps, with time, he would come to understand them.

Jet's eyes gleamed with excitement. Never had he seen something so exciting. He had never known Huo was so skillful! He had defeated a stronger, larger man then himself. Plus, he was a bender! And Huo had even come out without a scratch. It was just unbelievable.

"I see you were watching Jet," Huo's voice spoke suddenly behind him.

Jet's turned quickly, his eyes shooting up with anticipation. "I was just...um,Yeah. I thought you were great Hu- I mean, Si Fu Huo..." Then and there Jet realized why everyone in the household addressed Huo as the Master.

Meeting the older man's calm gaze with his own, Huo surprised him with a remarkable question that would change his life forever.

"The morning is still early... Would you like to join us and learn something, young one?"

* * *


	8. Chapter 8:Arrival of a Master

* * *

**Freedom's Prodigal Son**

**Chapter Eight: Arrival of a Master**

**

* * *

  
**

The years passed by quickly as if the sands of time flowed freely. Summer turned to fall, fall withered into winter, and winter thawed into spring. The season cycle came and went without as much as a whisper.

Jet never bothered to look back on the fateful day Huo had included him as a disciple. He was here in the now; what did the trivial things of the past matter? Thinking like this was the only way he could have a chance to move on, or grow.

He panted roughly as he eyed the training dummy in front of him. Jet had been unleashing his fury upon it, yet it seemed unfazed by his constant barrage. Anger swelled within him as sweat poured down his face. Even without a face its unwavering stature was taunting him, much like his previous defeats by the other pupils. One, called Han, was unmatched in hand to hand, with his iron fist style. Jet still remembered the bruising he suffered from that day. Then there was Cho, who was something else with that bo staff of his, which seemed to be everywhere at once. Jet couldn't even remember it landing a strike on him, but he had the marks to say it had. And if he thought Lei was going to be easy because she was a girl, Jet was dead wrong as he found himself flat on the ground, his eyes gazing at the sky wondering how he'd got pummeled and humiliated by a pair of… fans.

It had been like this for some time now. Even with Huo's constant praising of how he was improving, it made no difference. What good was it to get stronger when there are always those stronger than you? A defeat was a defeat, no matter how many times you told yourself otherwise. He felt like he was going no where.

He threw a last, final punch at the straw dummy, all his energy rushing through it. His body trembled with the exertion. Then the young man finally sighed and decided to crumple down on the floor, trying to fight of the fatigue that was slowly working its way through his body. "This isn't over pal, not by a long shot," he warned his woody adversary as he tried to catch his breath. "I'm just... giving you enough time to say your prayers before I grind you into dust..."

If the dummy was intimidated by his words, it didn't show.

* * *

Fu Xi watched carefully out of the corner of the dojo, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Something the matter with our young ward Fu Xi?" The gentle voice of Huo would have startled anyone, as the old man moved without making a sound.

Fortunately, Fu Xi was accustomed to his master's mannerisms and managed to maintain his serenity. "The boy is a mess," the younger man noted calmly.

"Not for lack of trying or potential, though." Huo chuckled as he played with his beard.

Exhaling heavily the male twin plunged ahead. "I mean no disrespect, Si Fu, but he doesn't belong in the dojo. Look how he trashes and swings his fists around, unguided and wild. He is reckless, and completely without grace," Fu Xi berated.

The old man seemed to find amusing as he continued to smile.

"He's a braggart, not a martial artist," Fu Xi concluded, slightly frustrated at his master's lack of concern.

Finally Huo spoke.

"I seem to recall not too long ago a certain youth who fought in the same manner," the old master recollected. "A wild child, with silver eyes... and an oh so violent demeanor." Huo smiled briefly at the collected young man.

"...mm..." Fu Xi only continued to gaze at Jet, who didn't seem to notice the two watching him. "I was a different person then."

"And how is our young Jet any different, Fu Xi?" The old master gestured with his cane at the struggling youth. "Look at the anger in those movements, look at how unfocused the blows he lands are. It's like looking at a mirror from years ago, my First Disciple. Except I was more handsome then... and you were more adorable than now." Huo chortled at his joke while Fu Xi grimaced at the memory.

Finally Huo's laughter died down and began to examine Jet as closely as Fu Xi had. "Every journey begins with a single step; this is especially true for those who walk the way of the sword," he stated. "All Jet needs is a single push in the right direction to find his path."

"...I suppose that's where you come in, Si Fu?" Fu Xi's eyebrow cocked.

"Wrong again, my friend," the old man nonchalantly answered as he began to walk away. "I have helped my fair share of students in plenty already. Now, I am tired. But..." he considered, glancing back curiously over his shoulder. "I don't suppose you're free this afternoon?

* * *

Jet finally succumbed, defeated on the floor. His fists ached, even with the bandage wraps he wore around them, and his legs wobbled with weariness. And still he had not dented the wooden dummy the way the other students seem to do with ease.

"Why?!" Frustration began to eat at him to his core as he began to pound the floor with his fists.

"All you'll get from doing that are bloody knuckles and a debt to Si Fu for a new floor tile."

Jet looked up as the stern voice echoed behind him. Fu Xi's figure stood there, erect, tall and proud. His long black robes flowed behind him as he continued to walk towards the youth.

"... Brother Fu Xi," Jet scrambled to his feet and tried to bow apologetically, still unaccustomed to calling his fellow martial practitioners brothers and sisters. As far as Jet was concerned he only had one brother, one who left his life a long time ago. "I-" But the silver haired warrior held one long finger up to silence him.

Jet frowned. At first he thought he had offended Fu Xi by not bowing right away, as the older warrior continued to gaze at him silently. He tried to rise quickly but his legs were weary with pain and made his movements awkward and unbalanced. Fu Xi was always a strict task master, but even he couldn't hold that again Jet, could he?

"You move like a wild hog-monkey," Fu Xi finally stated.

"...I ...what?"

It took a moment to process his words, so opposite to what the boy had been expecting to hear. But, once he did, Jet glared. First Disciple Fu Xi was not one for conversations, much less insults, and that was definitely one.

"A Wild. Hog. Monkey," the silver eyed man repeated, as if explaining something incredibly obvious to an idiot. "Badgering little creatures. Always moving around, usually eager to jump, swing, and make chattering noises."

Now what Fu Xi was saying was definitely getting a rise out of Jet, as the brown haired youth's hands shook with anticipation. But the boy struggled to control himself as the older disciple continued.

"Do you want to know why the other students bested you so easily?" he lectured. "You make too much unnecessary movements and noise. It gives you away," Fu Xi continued as he circled around the red-faced young man. "And I don't think drilling and training you is going to change that. It's part of your nature. You're no bender. You're clumsy with the jian sword. You cannot wield the Bo Staff like Cho can, nor can you fight with your fists like Han. So what good are you?"

That was the last straw. First Disciple or not, Jet could care less when his pride was on the line. He roared out a wordless cry and charged after Fu Xi.

The next thing he knew he was sailing through the air, his eyes gazing at everything in an upside down manner, and finally the pain of hitting the floor hard was eminent on his back. He didn't understand. He hadn't even been in range of Fu Xi's arms.

"Like I said... unnecessary movements, monkey." Jet glanced up, finding a small smile upon Fu Xi's face. "Or with that aggression, maybe I should call you a armadillo-tiger then?" He glanced at the groaning boy. "...More like a tiger cub, actually..."

"...Wha... what happened?" Jet struggled to get up.

"These happened, cub," Fu Xi stated simply, showing the boy a pair of odd looking swords, swords that gleamed in his hands. They were nothing like any sword Jet had seen before. The crescent hand guard shone with a bright light, the blade's end twisted like a claw or hook. Fu Xi tossed them with ease to Jet, who only caught the two, barely, their combined weight almost bringing him to his knees. But he _had_ caught them both, and that was something. Fu Xi, apparently, agreed. "There is potential within you, I can see that. It is up to you to decide whether you are going to do something about it...or not. Those are called Tiger Hook swords. An unusual weapon for an unusual student."

Jet hefted them in his hands and looked up at his unforeseen source of aid. The silvery man smiled sardonically.

"...Ready to turn those defeats into victories?" Fu Xi asked, already knowing the boy's answer.

* * *

The training to come days later were tough and rigorous. Fu Xi was unrelenting and uncompromising, so different from Huo's constant praising and gentle demeanor. Jet was not used to such a teacher.

"No! You're wielding them as if they were two very different things!" Fu Xi whacked Jet's arm with a small stick, correcting his posture.

"Ow!" Jet yelped in pain. "Hey, I'm trying!"

"Well try harder, cub. Like the animal they are named after the Tiger Hook swords are like the great beast's claws; they move as one to take down their unsuspecting prey. Who ever heard of a one-pawed tiger?"

And so the lessons would go. Fu Xi would berate him for doing something wrong, Jet would then be force to correct it, and the cycle would resume.

Hours turned to Days. Days turned to weeks. The weeks turned to months.

By then, Jet had achieved a basic understanding of the new weapon, and had finally started to make progress. Once he started, the boy took quickly to the Tiger Hook swords and was finally showing signs of real potential. But taking quickly to a weapon did very little to make learning it easy. But it did make him more determined. Jet had tasted sucess, and he was hungry for more.

Fu Xi had been right; the swords suited him. Every day he found new ways to use them, discovering immediately how a slightly different angle allowed him so many new moves, or how a change in footing created a new fighting range only his weapon could adapt quickly to. Soon hooks, blades, hilts and points all became tools as familiar to Jet as his fists. It was still challenging, and he took a good amount of beatings from Fu Xi, but suddenly, it was worth it. He could see his own improvement, and he found himself looking forward to training each day.

Sometimes Runt would come and watch him, but whenever Jet offered him a blade, he refused resolutely, as he always did when swords were involved. Eventually, when the Runt kept up this aversion to swords, or even short blades and knives, Jet began to worry. When Huo came out to observe a lesson between Jet and Fu Xi, the boy brought up his concern to his two teachers.

"I have noticed this too, Si Fu," Fu Xi agreed with Jet. "The boy often observes lessons, both with Jet and I, as well as group martial art lessons, but whenever we offer to let him join, he becomes quite frightened. It's annoying."

"It's the blades," Jet deduced. "He's afraid of swords for some reason."

"Is that what you think, Jet?" Huo asked.

"Yeah..." Fu Xi shot him a glare and Jet looked up at his master again quickly. "I mean, yes, Si Fu."

But Huo didn't seem to notice his slip in the slightest. The man just stroked his jaw, his eyes far away, and responded thoughtfully, "I see."

After a quiet moment where Jet and Fu Xi shared a confused glance, Jet turned back to his master, who was still stroking his bearded chin in thought. "What do you think?" Jet inquired.

"Oh, I quite agree with you," Huo nodded, his gaze refocusing on Jet. "I was just wondering how you reached that assumption. The boy still won't talk to me, but I suspect he saw something back in your home that made him afraid of swords."

Jet felt the memories he'd been avoiding through training coming back to him. He still wanted to remember his family, and loved ones, but not the horrible things of that night. But he remembered his conversation with Huo, and he knew that blocking it out completely was wrong. So even though it hurt to think about it, he allowed himself to recall a little of that time. "Yeah," Jet admitted. "There were plenty of reasons to be afraid of swords..." Jet glanced down at his hands, turning the hook swords over in his grip.

"But you aren't?" Huo asked.

Jet shook his head. "It wasn't the swords that killed everyone."

"It was the people holding them," Fu Xi finished confidently for him. Jet glanced up, but the man had a far away look in his eyes again. However after a moment he looked back down at the young boy. "You are exactly right, young Jet. That is why you have to be strong to wield a sword like yours. You have to be better than people like those soldiers were, or you don't deserve your weapon."

"I think I can understand that," Jet admitted, as the hook swords glinted in the sunlight. Somehow Huo always made things that seemed complicated sound so easy. Thanks to that, he wasn't just saying it; Jet really did understand. "But, I don't think Runt can."

"I agree," Huo spoke. "But don't worry about him. I've already asked someone to give him a hand."

"Who?" Jet asked.

Huo tapped his nose. "That's up to him to tell you if he wants."

"Then... what do I do?" Jet wondered.

"Support him, like he does you. Eventually, he will get past all of this too, just like you did."

Jet nodded, and afterwards began to pay more attention to the Runt. He was incredibly curious as to who was supposedly helping his silent companion, but despite the days that passed, Runt never offered any information on it, or made any move to join sparing matches of any kind, though he continued to watch Jet's. Eventually, Jet asked about it, but all the Runt did was hold out his hands to show Jet. When Jet remained confused, his wordless friend pointed to strange callouses on his palms and fingers, but this only furthered Jet's confusion. The only information Runt had been able to provide was useless to his friend. Eventually, focusing on his own swordsmanship forced Jet to give up on the Runt's mystery.

But Jet was not really to blame for this. Fu Xi kept him extremely busy. He was always either training with Huo's students, sparing with other disciples, or having private lessons with the silver-haired twin. Weeks flew by, and Jet spent each day sweaty, and each night weary and bruised, but also pleased with himself, and eager for the next day. Soon, he had callouses to match the Runt's, though positioned quite differently. If he had been able to measure himself, he would have seen he'd had a growth spurt as well, and now his scrawny body was beginning to develop muscles. But the more he learned, the more he loved his swords, and the more he realized with each passing day that he had so much still to learn.

Finally, during a sparing match, he managed to best Fu Xi, blocking one of his swings, and catching the Fist Disciple's foot with his other sword. As the taller man hit the ground, Jet felt a shocked surge of pride. He'd won! He'd actually beat Fu Xi for the first time.

"Not so fast," the man called from the ground.

Jet blinked. Then he looked down. Fu Xi's blade was inched from his own throat. "Ah man," Jet sighed.

A smile broke out across Fu Xi's face. "But that was really good, Jet," he admitted. "I can't believe I'm saying it, but you're becoming quite skilled with those Hook Swords extremely quickly. You might actually be good with them them soon."

Jet felt a big smile tug at his lips; this mocking sentence was the closest thing to praise the sour man ever distributed, and Jet recognized the compliment when he got it. Excitement flowed through him, but before he could respond to Fu Xi's comment, someone else came striding into the practice yard.

"First Brother Fu Xi," She bowed in earnest, hesitant to interrupt the lesson.

"Lei," Fu Xi greeted. "What's happening?"

"Si Fu's guest has arrived," the fan warrior pronounced. "He requested that we all attend the visitors in the main hall."

"We have a guest?" Jet asked.

"Oh yes," Fu Xi acknowledged, as he left with Lei. "Run along and clean up. You and your roommate should be there too."

And so Jet was left standing in the empty yard wondering just who was important enough to interrupt all of Huo's lessons.

* * *

By the time Jet had cleaned up and found the runt, the whole school was already present in the hall way, lined up in perfect symmetry, and not a sound to be made. Creeping up slowly to find his place Jet indicated for the Runt to follow when the floor creaked under his weight, which brought some unneeded stares from some of his fellow students. He could only mouth the word "sorry" and try to ignore them.

Just then they all straightened up, as Huo emerged from the entrance, a younger yet hard looking man walked beside him.

"Welcome Masters!" The hallway erupted with one powerful voice that surprised even Jet.

The students then bowed their heads, an action to which Jet was completely oblivious. When he didn't move, Fu Xi walked calmly up from behind, took hold of his head, and shoved it down for him.

The newcomer's eyes lingered on Jet's belated bow, but he didn't seem to have any specific emotion behind the gaze. "I see you've taught them manners, Huo, I can give you that," the younger man noted dully, his hands pressed behind his back in a dignified manner.

"You're as strict as ever," Huo teased softly. "Relax, old friend. These are my family. No need to be so formal." The older man smiled gently at his fellow master.

The visitor did not relax much, though he did nod to Huo, and the two began walking again, slowly. Jet could hardly see them thanks to an older and taller pupil standing in front of him, and the two men spoke so softly that he couldn't hear them anymore either.

"Who's that?" he asked when Fu Xi finally released his head.

"Shh. Quiet," Fu Xi shushed him before walking up to give his own greeting to the visitor.

If he listened really hard, Jet could make out peices of the conversation still. He didn't catch what Fu Xi said in welcome, but the man who's name he still didn't know seemed familiar with the twin. "...I see you haven't change Fu Xi." The visitor raised one eyebrow as he took in the first deciple.

"...It is good to see you again, Si Fu." Fu Xi's fist met his hand over his heart and he bowed out of respect.

Jet thought he might have missed something, but he did catch at least the main part of the man's reply. "...Can't say the same about this place, my boy. What has your master been taking in?"

"I-"

"Now, now," Huo waved Fu Xi's attempt at an answer off before rounding happily on the younger master, apparently not in the least bit perturbed by the rude comment. "If you're going to be throwing insults at me it should at least be over a cup of tea and a game of Paisho." Huo chuckled warmly as he led his guest towards one of the private chambers. "Fu Xi, be a dear and dismiss the students for me."

Jet sighed as he and the other students were released, bowing a formal solute before breaking off into groups. He still hadn't learned the new man's name...


End file.
